Long lines and victory for Republicans

Tim Gillie

Tooele County’s 2024 General Election stretched well into the night as long lines throughout the state held up vote reports from all counties, including Tooele.

Early on in the day, Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson asked county clerks to hold election results until the last voter in the state that was in line to vote at 8 p.m. had an opportunity to cast their ballot.

At 8 p.m., there were around 150 people in line at both the Tooele County Building and the Grantsville Fire Station. The number of people waiting at Old Mill Elementary School in Stansbury Park was unknown.

The last voter in line at the Tooele County Administration Building dropped their ballot in the box just before 10 p.m.

At 6:24 p.m., a count showed 345 people waiting to vote at the Tooele County Building. At 7:10 p.m., a voter emerged from the County Building and said she had been waiting in line to vote since 4:50 p.m..

Tooele County Clerk was given the “all clear” from the Lieutenant Governor’s office to release the unofficial election eve vote count around midnight.

With around 2,000 uncounted ballots in possession of the county clerk, the unofficial preliminary vote tally for the county was released around midnight with 27,536 votes cast out of 41,656 registered voters for a 66.1% voter turnout. That voter turnout will increase as the clerk continues to process and count ballots on Wednesday morning and as valid ballots arrive in the mail.

Former President Donald Trump led the county in the presidential race with 66.8% of votes cast. Kamala Harris ended the evening with 29.3% of the votes cast.

Voters selected Republican John Curtis, former mayor of Provo, to replace Utah retiring U.S. Senator Mitt Romney. Curtis held 67.8% of votes cast in Tooele County for U.S. Senator.

Celeste Maloy, who was first elected in a special election in 2023 to fill the 2nd Congressional District seat vacated by Chris Stewart, appears to have been reelected by 2nd District voters. Maloy received 66.6% of the votes cast from Tooele County.

Maloy released a statement shortly after midnight: “I want to thank the voters of UT-02 for the honor of representing you in Congress for a full term. I want to thank my family, friends, and my campaign team for their hard work. I also want to thank my opponents Nathaniel Woodward, Cassie Easley, and Tyler Murset for running, and I hope we can find issues to work together on. We have serious work to do, and I’m optimistic that we will pull together as Americans and roll up our sleeves. I am full of love for this country and hope for our future.”

Gov. Spencer Cox led the way in Tooele County with 59.2% of the votes cast. Republican Derek Brown pulled down 63.9% of Tooele County’s votes for state Attorney General. Republican Tina Cannon walked away from Tuesday night in Tooele County with 68.2% of votes cast in Tooele County for state auditor. Marlo Oaks, the Republican incumbent for state treasurer, held 70.6% of Tooele County’s election night votes.

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