St. George election update: Results show race still close as of Thursday vote count

Updated election results continue to show a tight city council race in St. George, with less than four percentage points separating the top and bottom vote-getters, but with some victors beginning to emerge as of early Thursday.

The two likely winners are both first-time city council candidates, Natale Larsen and Michelle Tanner, who each has more than 10,000 votes.

Larsen led the way with 10,337 votes, or 26.58% of the current vote share, followed by Michelle Tanner at 10,156 votes (26.11%). The two candidates on the outside looking in as of the preliminary count were Greg Aldred at 9,448 votes (24.23%) and Vardell Curtis, the only incumbent in the race, at 8,953 votes (23.02%).

These results aren't finalized and won't be until the official canvass date for this election, as more ballots will be counted. The canvass date for municipal elections in Utah is usually one to two weeks after election day.

But if these results hold with Larsen and Tanner winning, it will be the first time that women swept the St. George municipal elections. As it looks like Michele Randall will hold on to her mayoral seat.

If the results hold, it would mark the first time in St. George's history that women held a majority of seats on the five-member council, since Dannielle Larkin is in the middle of the four-year term she won in the 2019 election.

Tuesday's preliminary results were a shake-up from the August primary, especially for Larsen who just squeaked by a margin of five votes. In that race, Curtis and Tanner were the top vote-getters, with Tanner getting just over 4,300 votes about 14.88% and Curtis at around 3,800 about 13.25% of the vote total. Aldred and Larsen finished close together with Aldred getting 11.7% of the vote total and Larsen getting 11.38%.

That 11.38% in the primary was just enough for Larsen to squeak past the primary and Rick Erickson who got 11.37% of the vote. That .01% difference equated to 5 votes separating the two. Voter turnout was 30.96% in the primary.

More: St. George City Council candidates discuss issues, including DSU, public safety, housing at debate

Despite the results not yet finalized several candidates took to social media on Wednesday to discuss the election results.

Larsen thanked the voters on a post to her Facebook page.

"Thank you for your votes, support, kindness, and help. I am honored to represent this community that I love," read the post.

Tanner also posted to her Facebook account Wednesday morning saying "Preliminary results are in. So far it looks like WE DID IT!!!" Although Tanner did acknowledge the results could change as more voting results come in.

Even Curtis, the candidate that raised and spent the most money in this election, seemed to accept the current election standings.

"Well, it wasn’t my day at the polls and the people have voted. My commitment is to finish strong and then hand it off to Natalie Larsen and Michelle Tanner," Curtis posted to his Facebook page.

More: St. George primary election results finalized with just five votes separating candidates

This was a surprising result for Curtis, who got the second most votes in the primary and gained several endorsements from several prominent St. George residents. Including the former Mayor Jon Pike and current city council member Byran Smethurst, who lost his bid for re-election in the primary. These two also supported Larsen during this election.

One possible reason for the close race was that the candidates didn't express many differences of opinion during the race. In an October debate hosted by the Southern Utah Debate Commission, the candidates echoed each other's positions on several issues, including keeping Dixie in the Dixie State University name, the need for further water conservation and the need for the city to be involved in housing issues.

More: St. George City Council candidate Q&A on issues like water, growth, Dixie and COVID-19

This election and the rest of the Washington County's elections were visited on Tuesday by Utah’s top election official, the Lieutenant Governor, Diedre Henderson. She visited the Dixie Convention Center, one of the few in-person voting centers in the county, on Tuesday morning to deliver a “thank you” to county poll workers, according to her Twitter feed.

The 2021 campaign was an expensive one for some of the candidates, with tens of thousands spent on signs, advertising and events as they vied for a spot on the council.

More: Campaign Finance Reports: Breakdown of St. George candidates’ reports

Campaign finance reports showed Curtis, the incumbent, raised and spent the most cash, getting more than $28,500 in contributions and around $22,000 in expenses. Curtis raised money through contributions from several real estate organizations, including just under $10,500 from a group Curtis is the CEO of, the Washington County Board of Realtors.

No other candidate cracked the $20,000 mark, but Larsen had the second-highest funding amounts, getting just over $13,000 in contributions and having just over $10,000 in expenses. Most of her donations came from businesses, individuals and realty groups, including the Washington County Board of Realtors, which gave her around $3,000.

Aldred received roughly $2.700 in contributions. His largest donor was the right-leaning political action committee the Liberty Action Coalition, which gave him $1,500. The rest of the donations came from individuals.

Tanner only spent around $2,500, despite raising over $5,900. Of those contributions, 23.6% were from political action committees, with the Liberty Action Coalition giving $1,000 and Republican Woman Lead giving $400. The rest of Tanner’s contributions came from a mix of businesses and individuals.

More: Campaign Finance Reports: Breakdown of St. George candidates’ reports

The Spectrum will provide updates on this election as more results get released by Washington County.

St. George City Council

• Natalie Larsen 10,337 votes (26.58%)

• Michelle Tanner 10,156 votes (26.11%)

• Greg Aldred 9,448 votes (24.29%)

• Vardell Curtis 8,953 votes (23.02%)

The Spectrum will provide updates on this election as more results get released by Washington County.

Sean Hemmersmeier covers local government, growth and development in Southwestern Utah. Follow on twitter @seanhemmers34. Our work depends on subscribers so if you want more coverage on these issues you can subscribe here: http://www.thespectrum.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: St. George city council election: Winners begin to emerge