SALT LAKE CITY – The final tally is in. Jackie Biskupski will be the new mayor of Salt Lake City.
She beat out current Mayor Ralph Becker with the 51.55 percent of the vote.
Biskupski will now make history as the first openly gay mayor of Utah’s Capitol City.
Biskupski received 19,896 votes and Becker took in 18,702.
Nearly 5,000 ballots still needed to be counted after the Nov. 6 voting day and now they have been added to the tally.
The Salt Lake City recorder presented the results to the board of canvassers to be reviewed and certified.
The results were announced Tuesday afternoon.
Salt Lake City was largely a vote-by-mail election with ballots being mailed out a month in advance.
Only four polling locations were open for people to vote in person.
At Trolley Square, polls stayed open past the 8 p.m. deadline to allow those already in line the ability to vote.
Voters were also able to hand-deliver their ballots to the county clerk to be counted.
Current Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker sent Fox 13 the following statement:
“Our city electorate has made their decision. I congratulate Jackie Biskupski on her strong campaign and victory. I remain committed to this City and our future. I will work with Mayor-Elect Biskupski to assist in a smooth transition.
Serving as mayor of Salt Lake City has been the richest working experience of my life. It has been an unparalleled privilege and honor to serve in this role for eight years. A way to measure success in a job is to look at whether the place you’re leaving behind is better off than when you started. I leave this job with a wonderful feeling of success. Everyone who has worked with me inside and outside City government can look around this City and feel proud of the incredible transformation over the last eight years. Salt Lake City has become more livable, more sustainable, and more inclusive. And, we are now considered a model city across the nation in so many ways. A joy in my mayoral time has been the people I have met who every single day make this community a better place to live. Whether it’s assisting our homeless friends or refugees, protecting our mountains or reducing air pollution, or creating safer or more desirable neighborhoods, there are so many people who make this place special. Thank you to the many people who have and will continue to make Salt Lake City a great American city.”
Mayor Ben McAdams released the following statement after official election results determined the winner in the Salt Lake City Mayor’s race:
“Congratulations to Salt Lake City Mayor-elect Jackie Biskupski. She ran a hard-fought campaign and she raised a number of issues that are important to residents in both the city and the county, such as economic development, public safety and homelessness. I’m looking forward to forming a strong partnership with Jackie and her administration. I know she cares, as I do, about working together to address the challenges that aren’t confined only to the city’s boundaries, but that affect the entire region. She brings energy and new ideas to the table, and I look forward to a strong collaboration as we work together on behalf of our community.”
Equality Utah sent out this statement:
“Equality Utah congratulates Jackie Biskupski for her historic win” said executive director Troy Williams. “Her victory sends a powerful message to all LGBTQ Utahns that their sexual orientation will never be a limitation to public service. We look forward to working alongside Mayor-elect Biskupski to advance policies that will benefit all Utahns.”
