Wasatch County Emergency Management Director Jeremy Hales is leading the race for sheriff by more than 4,000 votes after elections officials released the first batch of results Tuesday night.
Unaffiliated candidate Paul Moore had garnered 31% of the vote, to Hales’ 69%, according to preliminary results released around 9 p.m.
Hales became Wasatch County’s emergency manager in 2016, after joining the sheriff’s office in 2001.
He bested Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby in the GOP primary in June by a 2-to-1 margin. That was after news broke of a criminal investigation into the current sheriff.
Rigby’s term ends in January. He’ll leave office on the heels of a grand jury indictment on one felony and a misdemeanor charge in September.
He has pleaded not guilty to allegedly interfering with the murder prosecution of Kouri Richins in Summit County.
If elected, Hales would work closely with the Wasatch County prosecutors.
In that race, deputy county attorney John Woodard, a Republican, leads Democrat Lauren Forsyth. Woodard had 54% as of Tuesday night.
More election results are expected Wednesday.
