Salt Lake City mayoral candidate and state Sen. Luz Escamilla, left, looks at results that are projected on a screen with volunteer Tracy Taylor, campaign field director Richard Jaramillo, and volunteer Ernie Gamonal from her election night headquarters in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — Luz Escamilla has conceded the Salt Lake City mayor’s race to Erin Mendenhall.
Escamilla said Wednesday afternoon that Mendenhall’s 17-point election night lead was insurmountable after the Salt Lake County Clerk’s office reported that there were only 9,744 ballots remaining to be counted. Her campaign had estimated there were as many as 20,000 ballots left to tally.
“I just congratulated Erin,” Escamilla said in a news release. “We had a good conversation and I wished her the best of luck as our city’s next mayor.”
Her campaign to become the city’s first Latina mayor focused on turning out the vote in the city’s west-side neighborhoods. Escamilla, who will remain a state senator, made her last campaign stop shortly before the polls closed in Glendale.
Mendenhall has scheduled a Thursday morning news conference on the steps of City Hall. She will step down as a Salt Lake City councilwoman to assume her new position.
“I just received a very gracious call from Sen. Escamilla congratulating me on being elected Salt Lake City’s 36th mayor,” Mendenhall said in a statement. “Luz is a dedicated public servant and a true champion for Salt Lake City. Her candidacy made this a better campaign and her continued public service will help make Salt Lake City a better home for all of us. I look forward to working in partnership with her to move our city forward.”
Escamilla said that as she looks back over the race, “what I will always keep with me is how beautiful this city and its residents are. I’ve met so many incredible Salt Lakers during this campaign. I’ve made new friends and learned this truth: east siders care about the west side and west siders care about the east side.”
She said that in “times when we see so many divisions, it’s a reaffirmation of our great city to see that we all care about each other.”
In the final unofficial election night results posted around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Mendenhall had 58.6% of the vote while Escamilla had 41.4%. At the end of the night, 33,818 votes had been counted. The county clerk is expected to release updated results after 3 p.m. on Thursday.
This story will be updated.
from Deseret News https://ift.tt/32m9ZDZ
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