SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The race for Salt Lake County mayor remained too close to call Wednesday with the two candidates just 239 votes apart, election officials said.
More than 7,000 absentee and provisional ballots have yet to be counted from Tuesday's primary elections, Salt Lake County Clerk Sherri Swenson said.
As of Wednesday, management consultant and former County Council member Mark Crockett had the lead over West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder by 239 votes, she said.
Winder has declined to concede the race and said he could ask for a recount if he ends up trailing Crockett by fewer than 725 votes.
Swenson said a board of canvassers will declare a winner July 10.
The eventual GOP winner in that race will face state Democratic Sen. Ben McAdams in November.
Winder made national headlines earlier this year after he admitted to writing flattering stories about his city under a false name for area publications. He has since apologized, was reprimanded by the City Council and resigned his position at a public relations firm.
Elsewhere around the state, Utah voters delivered no surprises in the state's primary elections, handing wins to U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney and Deputy Utah Attorney General John Swallow, who hopes to replace his retiring boss.
Hatch, who took more than 66 percent of the vote in Tuesday's primary, now heads into the November election seeking his seventh — and what he says will be his final — term in office after beating out his challenger, former Utah state Sen. Dan Liljenquist.
Republican John Swallow aims to replace his retiring boss, state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, after winning Tuesday's GOP primary in his race. He said he will continue to lead on issues such as immigration and states' rights.
"I have a message for all of Utah," Swallow said. "I want to be there to protect our rights and freedom."
Swallow faces Weber County Attorney Dee Smith in November, the only Democratic contender running for attorney general.
Shurtleff is stepping aside after a dozen years in office.
Meanwhile, Mitt Romney won the Utah GOP presidential primary, claiming all 40 GOP delegates, and more than 93 percent of the vote.
The contest was the final one in a primary season that started with a crowded GOP field of presidential candidates in January and ended with Romney as the only candidate campaigning for votes. Romney already had more than enough delegates to claim the GOP nomination heading into the Utah primary.
A Mormon and graduate of Brigham Young University who oversaw the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Romney took 90 percent of the vote in Utah's 2008 presidential primary. More than 60 percent of residents in the state are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In the only U.S. House primary, Democratic political newcomer Donna McAleer, of Park City, beat out challenger Ryan Combe and will now face Republican incumbent Rob Bishop to represent District 1, which encompasses 10 counties in the north after redistricting.
McAleer, 46, is a West Point graduate and former Army platoon leader who nearly qualified for the 2002 Olympics as a bobsled team driver. She hopes to become just the fourth woman to represent the state in Congress.
Bishop, 60, of Brigham City, is seeking his sixth term.
Also Tuesday, Utah voters decided winners in 17 state House and Senate seats.
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AP writers Lynn DeBruin and Paul Foy contributed to this report.




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