Donna McAleer wins Summit County, loses elsewhere
Donna McAleer, a Pinebrook Democrat who was the party’s candidate in the 1st Congressional District, carried Summit County on Election Day for the second time but was beaten by wide margins elsewhere in the district as Republican Congressman Rob Bishop easily won re-election to a seventh term.
McAleer took 55.2 percent of the vote in Summit County, 5,816 votes, to Bishop’s 39.7 percent and 4,188 votes, according to results released on Election Day. Summit County makes up a small percentage of the electorate in the 1st Congressional District, however.
The results across the 1st Congressional District, which stretches through a wide swath of northern Utah, were lopsided. Bishop won re-election with 64.2 percent of the vote against McAleer’s 29 percent. The incumbent over the years has not enjoyed the same popularity in Summit County as he has elsewhere in the district.
It was the second consecutive contest between McAleer and Bishop following the 1st Congressional District campaign in 2012. Bishop won re-election in 2012 with 71.5 percent to McAleer’s 24.7 percent. It is believed Republican candidates in Utah in 2012 enjoyed a slight bump in their numbers with Mitt Romney, a popular figure in the state, at the top of the ticket that year in his unsuccessful bid for the White House.
McAleer attempted to unseat Bishop this year by labeling him a "guardian of gridlock." She charged he had a role in the shutdown of the federal government and criticized Bishop for accepting campaign contributions from corporate interests.
Bishop, though, told voters he could become the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources if he is re-elected, saying the position would be of significance for the state.
Dwayne Vance, who lives in the Salt Lake Valley and has been an attorney based in Park City for nearly 20 years, garnered 3.2 percent of the vote in the 1st Congressional District. He campaigned as a member of the Independent American Party. In Summit County, he took 2.7 percent of the vote.
Other results in notable contests that involved portions of Summit County included:
Wright took Summit County with nearly 63 percent of the vote to Powell’s 37 percent, but the Republican won the election with strong showings elsewhere in the district. The Summit County portion of District 54 includes Park City and parts of the Snyderville Basin.
Deer Valley gondola system designed to possibly be part of citywide aerial network
Deer Valley Resort sees gondolas as a transportation option that could eventually link the three base areas – Snow Park, Silver Lake Village and Deer Valley East Village. And, ultimately, possibly link Deer Valley with other places in the Park City area.
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