PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Escamilla Overtakes Dabakis to Face Off in SLC Mayoral Race Against Mendenhall.
With an additional 7,570 votes counted, Escamilla advanced to a second place finish in the primary election with few votes left to consider.
Salt Lake City, August 15, 2019 — The Salt Lake County Clerk’s office released an updated ballot count in the Salt Lake City Mayoral Primary today. The new totals elevated Sen. Luz Escamilla to second place as her new vote total put her ahead of her former state senate colleague Jim Dabakis. If these results hold, Escamilla will face Salt Lake City Council Member Erin Mendenhall in the general election.
On election night, Escamilla trailed Dabakis by a mere 109 votes. Of the 7,570 new votes tallied today, Escamilla garnered an additional 1,693 votes while Dabakis only managed to add 1,163 votes, leaving Escamilla ahead with a margin of 421 votes. While there remains roughly 700 provisional votes for the County Clerk’s office to review, the odds of Dabakis retaking the second slot are statistically very slim.
Dabakis issued a press release conceding the election shortly after the County Clerk posted the new numbers.
Escamilla explained her come-from-behind victory: “We knew we had an aggressive field game to get out the vote and these results show that our hard work paid off. We’ll be waiting for the final canvass report, but we feel good about where we’re at.”
Escamilla entered the crowded field of eight primary candidates in late March following the announcement that Mayor Jackie Biskupski would not seek reelection and after many candidates had already been running for months.
Despite her shorter time in the race, Escamilla quickly mounted a formidable campaign, raising enough money to stay competitive with self-funded candidates, and the polls consistently showed her in second place throughout the primary season. Now, her campaign will be gearing up for a primary contest against Mendenhall.
The general election for Salt Lake City mayor will again be conducted through mail-in ballots with election day on November 5.
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