Salt Lake City has a new mayor through the next four years as incumbent Erin Mendenhall leads in the elections with an overwhelming 59% of the vote. As Mendenhall celebrated at her watch party, the former mayor, Rocky Anderson, expressed his disappointment at the results, which could very well signal the end of the race. Mendenhall’s first term was marked by various crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, an earthquake, and protests for police shootings, which she believes made her capable of handling the position efficiently.
Despite his fiery rhetoric, Anderson faced a clear defeat. One of his campaign promises was to create a legal homeless campground, an issue that Mendenhall also sought to address by working with the state to establish a sanctioned homeless camp in Salt Lake City. The incumbent mayor prided herself on her administration’s record of helping create more affordable units than all previous mayoral administrations combined, in contrast to Anderson’s proposal to set up government-owned and -operated housing. Looking ahead to her second term, Mendenhall expressed her ambitious plans, such as creating a 60-acre “green loop” around downtown, attracting Major League Baseball to the city, and working with the state and other cities to cater more to unhoused Utahns. This news concluded with information that additional ballot returns were expected to be released late Tuesday night and in coming days, with results to be finalized by December 6th.
