Local Primary Election results mirror state results

San Juan County voters followed the same trends as statewide voters at the June 28 primary election.
There was one local race on the ballot. In a non-partisan race for a seat on the San Juan School Board, incumbent Merri Shumway and challenger Kari Bake earned enough votes to move to the general election ballot.
Shumway earned 39 percent of votes, Bake earned 37 percent, and Cheryl Bowers earned 24 percent.
In the Republican party primary, incumbent governor Gary Herbert defeated challenger Jonathan Johnson with 72 percent of the San Juan County vote.
Incumbent Jason Chaffetz defeated challenger Chia Chi Teng with 87 percent of the local vote.
The Republican primary is closed, meaning only registered party members can participate. Of the approximately 2,000 registered Republicans in the county, roughly half voted in the primary election.
The Democrat primary is open, meaning anyone could participate unless they were registered members of another political party.
In the Democrat race for Senate, Misty Snow defeated Jonathan Swinton with 56 percent of the vote in San Juan County. Snow becomes the first transgendered Senate candidate from any state to receive a major party spot on the general election ballot.
Snow will face incumbent Republican Senator Mike Lee in the general election.
Preliminary totals show that 1,664 votes have been counted. Election officials from the San Juan County Clerks office plan to count additional votes in coming days.
They state that at least 300 additional votes could be counted, including ballots received in the mail, provisional ballots, and ballots with questions about the signature.
The primary election was watched closely since the entire election system in the county is the subject of a voting rights lawsuit. The Navajo Nation and others have filed suit in federal court, arguing that the mail-only election results in negative impacts.
The primary election had election-day ballots available for voters in four locations, including Navajo Mountain, Monument Valley, Montezuma Creek, and Monticello.
Officials report that approximately 90 people voted in-person, including approximately 60 voters at Navajo Mountain, 20 at Monument Valley, and five each at Montezuma Creek and Monticello.