Plumb wins primary for Utah Senate District 9 by 61 votes

SALT LAKE CITY — A final tally of primary votes in the race between Sen. Derek Kitchen, D-Salt Lake City, and challenger Dr. Jen Plumb has given Dr. Plumb the primary victory by a margin of 61 votes.

#BREAKING Salt Lake Co. elections are officially certified and @jennifer_plumb has beat incumbent @derekkitchen in the race for Utah’s Senate District 9 (east SLC) by 61 votes. That makes Kitchen the 2nd sitting @UTSenateDems ousted, Sen Gene Davis was beat by @NateForUtah. #upol

— Lindsay Aerts (@LindsayOnAir) July 12, 2022

 

The incumbent, Senator Derek Kitchen, has conceded and offered congratulations to Plumb.

After two weeks of standing by and awaiting the results of the primary election, today the County Clerk finalized the count.
I lost this election by 61 votes. pic.twitter.com/uXiHUEn3az

— Senator Derek Kitchen **ABORTION IS HEALTHCARE** (@derekkitchen) July 12, 2022

In the days following the June 28 primary election, Kitchen and Plumb were separated by less than two percentage points according to reporting from the Deseret News. Two weeks later, Salt Lake County certified the results and Plumb’s victory.

Later on Tuesday, Dr. Plumb said she was grateful to the voters in Senate District 9.

“Words cannot begin to describe the amount of joy I’m feeling tonight. I’m grateful to the residents of Senate District 9 for placing their trust in me! I promise to deliver results for them, their families, our neighborhoods, and our State. Thank you, residents of Senate District 9!”

Plumb will face an Independent write-in candidate, Vance Hansen, in November. According to Ballotpedia, Hansen also ran a write-in campaign in 2018 when he sought to represent District 2 in the Utah Senate.

Related reading:

• From 18 to 21: Utah lawmaker wants to raise firearms purchasing age
• Senator Derek Kitchen: Utah has a “trigger ban” on marriage equality
• Lawmaker opens bill to codify marriage equality in Utah

 

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