The Republican Primary election took place on June 28 around the state and both Carbon and Emery counties participated with elections in both areas for commission seats and a State House of Representative seat for District 67. Emery County also had held a primary election for Sheriff.

This was a Republican Primary only, which meant that you had to be a registered Republican to vote, and all election results are unofficial. Results don’t have to be certified until July 12.

In the only Carbon County government race, incumbent commissioner Tony Martines defeated his challenger Allen Paul Riddle, 1,220 votes to 1,053 earning 53.67% of all votes. Martines will now move on to the November general election to face challengers Aaron Haeck, an Independent American and Fuzzy Nance, who is running on the Libertarian ticket.

In Emery county, the make-up of the commission will change next year with both incumbents Kent Wilson and Gil Conover falling to their challengers.

Wilson lost to Jordan Leonard 1,421 to 946, with Leonard getting 60.03% of the vote.

In the other commission race, incumbent Gil Conover faced off with fellow republicans Kevin Jensen and Doug Stilson. Jensen edged out Stilson by just 19 votes, 884 to 865, while Conover had 620.

In what turned out to be the tightest race of the evening the republican candidates for sheriff, Shaun Bell and Tyson Huntington ended in an 1,185-1,185 tie. There are still outstanding ballots that need to be counted, as mail in ballots had to be postmarked by the day of the election June 28. If the final result has a margin of 12 or less, then a recount can be requested.

In the race for the House for district 67, incumbent Christine Watkins edged out challenger Tom Hansen 3,367 to 2,954, winning 53.27% of the popular vote. Since there is no one running on the other side of the ticket, Watkins wins another term.