Massive voter turnout may send Blanding Mayor to Utah House of Representatives

A massive voter turnout in the Blanding area may have been the key factor in tight race in the Republican effort to replace Phil Lyman in the Utah House of Representatives.
After primary election ballots were counted on June 25, Blanding Mayor Logan Monson has a razor-thin advantage over Moab resident Lynn Jackson, 3,527 to 3,500. That is 50.2 percent for Monson and 49.8 percent for Jackson.
There are still approximately 100 uncounted votes in San Juan County, including provisional ballots.
The massive district covers several counties, with voters in San Juan and Kane counties favoring Monson, while voters in Emery, Garfield, Wayne and Grand counties favored Jackson.
In Blanding, several hundred ballots were either cast or mail in ballots were dropped off throughout the day. These ballots were the last to be counted on election day and may have been instrumental in turning the tide for Monson.
Monson trailed by 67 votes before these ballots were counted, but the Blanding Mayor was the choice of nearly 74 percent of the final ballots. They may have put him over the top.
The San Juan County vote swung 65-35 percent in favor of Monson, while Grand County favored Jackson by a 71-29 percent margin.
The race for San Juan County Commissioner was similarly close.
Lori Maughan leads the three candidates to replace Bruce Adams on the San Juan County Commission with 446 votes and is currently 37 votes ahead of challenger Erik Merlin Grover, with 409 votes. Doug Allen has secured 237 votes.
The race did tighten when the Blanding ballots were counted as Grover is currently a member of the Blanding City Council. However, Maughan was able to hold on to her narrow lead and appears to have secured the nomination.
Bruce Adams has served as Commissioner since 2004.
The primary selects the party candidate on the November general election ballot.
In the statewide race for Governor, Blanding resident and state representative Phil Lyman won the vote in San Juan County and a dozen other rural counties, but fell behind on the Wasatch Front in his bid to replace Governor Spencer Cox.
While Lyman secured 75 percent of the San Juan County vote, Cox was ahead on the statewide totals by a 58 to 42 percent margin.
San Juan County Republicans favored John Curtis in his bid to replace Mitt Romney in the US Senate. Curtis is the winner statewide.
Mike Kennedy is the choice of voters to fill Curtis' spot in the US House of Representatives. In San Juan County, Kennedy finished second behind JR Bird.
Derek Brown won the statewide race for Attorney General even though San Juan County voters favored Rachel Terry.
Tina Cannon was the choice for State Auditor, and challenger Joann Brinton defeated incumbent Kristan Norton in the local race for a spot on the state school board.
Updates will be posted as they are released.
In other San Juan County races, incumbent Glenis Pearson defeated challenger Vint DeGraw in the race for San Juan County Treasurer. Pearson secured 1,301 votes (71 percent), compared to 528 votes for DeGraw.