This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
After falling further behind with Friday's latest vote-count release by the Salt Lake County clerk's office, Democrat Catherine Kanter conceded in her bid to unseat Republican incumbent Richard Snelgrove.
The newest tabulation gave Snelgrove a 13,000-vote lead, 51.7 percent to 48.3 percent, with nearly 84 percent of the votes counted.
"While we didn't win this race," said Kanter, 49, an attorney who carried Democrats' hopes of taking a 5-4 council majority away from the Republicans, "our team left nothing on the table. We tackled this race with a sincere commitment to improve the lives of the residents."
Snelgrove, a 61-year-old business owner and former state Republican Party chairman, said he received a "very gracious" concession call from Kanter and commended her for "investing time and resources in a difficult countywide election."
Although Kanter raised significantly more money than Snelgrove, the GOP incumbent felt the public recognized "I kept their interests first" during his initial six-year term.
"Our message resonated with people and they appreciated the work I do," he added, "taking their side instead of the side of big government. I'm not afraid to go to bat for them when it comes to frivolous spending by county government or taking on UTA."
Earlier this year, Snelgrove raised the prospect of the county holding off on passing through $150 million in sales tax revenues to UTA until the transit agency's board becomes more transparent.
Kanter pledged to remain active promoting issues raised by her campaign. She is a member of the county's Mountainous Planning Commission, which primarily handles land-use issues in Little Cottonwood, Big Cottonwood and Millcreek canyons.