Sanpete County's Republican voting patterns appear largely unchanged following Tuesday's general election.
“The so-called blue wave nationwide did not penetrate Sanpete County,” said Suzanne Dean, publisher of the Sanpete Messenger.
She said Republican incumbent Rep. Mike Kennedy received roughly three-quarters of the vote. His race was the only federal contest on Sanpete County ballots.
"The rural counties, Sanpete, Juab, Millard, and Sevier — in those counties, Kennedy's margin was between 75% and 81%," Dean said. "And that's pretty consistent with past experience."
Across the district as a whole, however, Democratic challenger Jonny Larsen received nearly 42% of the vote in early returns — a stronger showing than Dean said Democrats typically see in Utah.
While the congressional results were largely predictable in the county, one local ballot measure had a more surprising outcome. Early returns showed Sanpete County voters narrowly opposing Proposition 11, which would authorize a sales tax of up to 1% to help fund rural health care and emergency services, including the county's 911 system.
Dean said that outcome was notable given the county's history of supporting similar proposals. She believes concerns about household expenses may have influenced the vote.
"I’ve been here 25 years," Dean said. "We've had lots of propositions — everything from RAP taxes to school bonds to a jail bond, and ... we've put out editorials and stories quoting officials as saying 'This is something we need for the well-being of the county,' and people have nearly passed them all."
As additional ballots are counted, Dean said she'll be looking for differences in voting patterns within the county. She suspects certain communities may show more support for Democrats than others.
"We have Ephraim, which has a college community — which tends to be a little more moderate politically," Dean said, "and we have Spring City, which is a historic artist-type community."
Election Day itself was relatively uneventful in the county, with some lines but no significant voting problems, according to Dean.
However, counting is still underway. Dean said county election officials had counted approximately 5,500 ballots as of Wednesday morning, with another 1,800 outstanding.
