This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake County Republicans picked Kevin Jacobs to replace his boss as county assessor.
In the second round of voting Thursday, the party's central committee elected Jacobs, a 23-year veteran of the assessor's office, by a 52 percent to 48 percent margin over Jake Parkinson, an assessor in Tooele County.
Mike Christensen and Darhl Nielsen were eliminated in the first round.
All were vying for the elective position that opened up Sept. 1 with the resignation of Lee Gardner, who had been assessor for 19 years. He left before the end of his fifth term to go on a mission to Spain for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Party Chairman Chad Bennion said a letter endorsing Jacobs' selection will be sent early next week to the Salt Lake County Council, which will consider confirming his appointment to fill out Gardner's term. It ends in January 2015.
Jacobs had Gardner's endorsement and maintained that his experience gave him an advantage over his rivals. He has been the office's chief deputy, director of administration, fiscal manager, director of motor vehicles and the manager overseeing development of an integrated tax system.
The assessor's office has 105 employees and a $12.5 million annual budget. It sets values for 347,000 parcels per year.
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