With just over three weeks until the primary election, voters in Park City and some parts of the East Side who want a say in who appears on the November ballot should prepare to make their decisions soon.
A large number of candidates are campaigning for the Park City Council, Francis City Council, Henefer mayor and Coalville City Council and mayoral elections. So voters living in those municipalities will help narrow the field by voting for the candidate of their choice on Aug. 12.
City council elections allow voters to choose up to two candidates — the number of open seats — while only one pick is allowed for mayor. The top vote-getters will appear on the general election ballot. Four candidates will keep campaigning on for the city council seats, and two will advance in the race for the mayor’s office.
Primary ballots will be mailed out on Tuesday, meaning they could start arriving in mailboxes as early as next week.
Ballots must then be returned to the Clerk’s Office or a drop box before 8 p.m. on Aug. 12. Drop boxes are located at the Summit County Courthouse, the Coalville and Kamas branches of the Summit County Library, the Park City Library, The Market at Park City, Francis City Hall and Henefer Town Hall.
Early in-person voting is also permitted in the week leading up to the primary as well as the day of. Early voting will be available from Wednesday, Aug. 6, to Saturday, Aug. 9, at the Summit County Clerk’s Office and the Marsac Building. The Clerk’s Office will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. Park City Hall will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Election Day voting locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Aug. 12 at Coalville City Hall, the Kamas branch of the Summit County Library and the Marsac Building.
The Park Record and KPCW will host a primary election forum on Tuesday, the same day that ballots go out introducing the eight Park City Council candidates: Park City Community Foundation Vice President of Impact Diego Zegarra; incumbent Park City Councilor Jeremy Rubell; former People’s Health Clinic Executive Director Beth Armstrong; former communications firm owner Molly Miller; former Park City Planning Commissioner John “J.K.” Kenworthy; former National Ability Center CEO Danny Glasser; incumbent Park City Councilor Tana Toly; and Mountain Trails Foundation Resource Manager Ian Hartley.
The primary forum will start at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the Jim Santy Auditorium in the Park City Library on 1255 Park Ave. Candidates will have limited time to provide opening statements, answer lightning, general and audience questions, and issue closing statements. There is a prompt 8 p.m. end time. KPCW will livestream the candidate forum at kpcw.org.
The Park Record continues to publish candidate profiles highlighting those who are appearing on the primary ballot. A voter guide featuring the candidates will be published before the primary.
Editor and Publisher Don Rogers said questionnaires have been emailed to candidates in primary municipal elections in Summit and Wasatch counties, and he hopes the candidates will complete their forms by Monday so that the guide can be published with the Saturday, July 26, edition of The Park Record as well as sent to every resident’s post office box address.
The Francis City Council candidates:
- Scott Ian Buchanan
- Justin Ciampi
- Riley J. Atkinson
- Lynsi Stone
- Shana Jai Fryer, incumbent
- Clayton Wilson Querry, incumbent
The Henefer Town Mayor candidates:
- James Alfred Rees
- Kay H. Richins, incumbent
- Dawn M. Langston
The Coalville candidates:
- Walter William Brock, mayor
- Lynn Wood, mayor
- Tyler J. Rowser, mayor
- Rory Thomas Swensen, mayor
- Matthew Boyer, city council
- Steven Bingham Richins, city council
- Andrew Edward Nelson, city council
- Colleen C. Goodman, city council
- Chris Tomczyk, city council
- Jeff M. Peterson, city council
The Heber City candidates:
- Heidi Franco, incumbent mayor
- D. Scott Phillips, mayor
- Mike Hewlett, mayor
- Yvonne M Barney, incumbent city councilor
- Lori Wikert Rutland, city council
- Gregory D Royall, city council
- Corey Noyes, city council
- Morgan Murdock, city council
- Nick Lopez, city council
- Christen Thompson, city council
- Jami Hewlett, city council
- Ken Davis, city council
The Midway City Council candidates:
- Craig Knight, city council
- Starr Stratford, city council
- Jared (JC) Simonsen, incumbent city councilor
- Andy Garland, city council
- Randy Lundin, city council
- Genene Probst-Miles, city council
The Summit County Clerk’s Office will conduct a logic and accuracy test of the equipment that will be used during the primary election at 10 a.m. on Monday in the County Courthouse, 60 N. Main Street in Coalville. It is open to the public.
In October, The Park Record and KPCW will host another forum with the mayoral and final council candidates appearing on the general election ballot. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Individuals must be registered to vote no later than 11 days before an election to receive a mail-in ballot. Contact the Clerk’s Office with any questions by calling 435-336-3040.
An earlier version of this article stated ballots could be postmarked by Monday, Aug. 11, to be counted. A new state law removed the postmark deadline, and the only standard is that ballots are returned to the Clerk’s Office by 8 p.m. on election day. The article has been updated.