SALT LAKE CITY — Early election returns Tuesday night showed two-term Mayor Ralph Becker trailing challenger Jackie Biskupski in the race to lead Utah’s capital city.
Biskupski, a former state lawmaker, had about 52 percent of the early vote to Becker’s 48 percent. Another batch of returns was scheduled to be released late Tuesday night, but Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said a crush of mail-in ballots that were dropped off at polling places and other voting centers Tuesday might not be counted that night.
Swensen said it could mean the result of a close election may not be clear until a final count on Nov. 17.
Becker, who has been in office since 2007, would become one of a handful of the city’s mayors to earn a third term if he wins.
If Biskupski wins, she would become the first openly gay person to serve as Salt Lake City mayor.
