In the race for Wasatch County clerk-auditor, Republican delegates supported challenger Michelle Kellogg over incumbent Joey Granger at the GOP convention April 7.
Kellogg said she wants to “elevate” how the clerk’s office runs.
“We can have a pretty good clerk’s office, or we can have an excellent clerk’s office,” she said. “We need an excellent clerk’s office.”
She is the Park City recorder and previously served as Heber City’s recorder.
If elected, Kellogg said she’ll communicate with voters to improve turnout, offer candidate workshops and run elections efficiently.
Incumbent Joey Granger said her experience in the role speaks for itself.
“I’ve maintained an open door and still invite you to my office,” she said. “Come walk through our processes so you can feel confident in what we do.”
Granger has been clerk-auditor for nearly six years, since winning an interim election in 2020.
She said she will focus on safeguarding election security and ensuring accurate tax rates if reelected.
Kellogg received just under 60% of delegates’ support at the convention, while Granger got around 40%.
With two Republicans on the ballot, the clerk-auditor race will be determined by a primary June 23. Ballots will be mailed to voters June 2.
The clerk-auditor job isn’t the only one that could see a shakeup.
Deputy Wasatch County Attorney Jon Woodard is running to succeed Scott Sweat in the role, but the Republican has competition in Democratic candidate Lauren Forsyth.
Forsyth, a Midway-based attorney, told delegates at the Democratic convention April 8 she wants to reform how the office runs. She cited the high-profile road rage case involving Greg DeBoer, in which county prosecutors declined to pursue homicide charges for the death of Patrick Hayes.
“This is unacceptable. There was outrage amongst his [Hayes’] family and members of the community. This needs to be taken seriously,” she said. “Our people need to be protected. Communication with victims needs to happen.”
Forsyth said she is the first Democratic candidate on record to run for Wasatch County attorney. She said she wants to disrupt the “boys’ club” in county government.
Woodard, for his part, told Republicans he wants to preserve Wasatch County’s conservative values, sharing stories of smelling marijuana and seeing “evidence of crime” on a recent visit to Denver.
“We saw other evidence of crime all over the place, and it made me so grateful for what we have in Wasatch County,” he said. “And I think that one of the essential parts of keeping what we have is maintaining conservative values in our government and our elected officials.”
Notably, Woodard has been involved in the Heber Valley temple lawsuit, which is next scheduled for oral arguments at the Utah Supreme Court May 6.
The county attorney race will be determined in the general election Nov. 3.
