CACHE COUNTY – The blue wave predicted by Utah Democrats struck Cache County a glancing blow on Nov. 3, resulting in changes to the makeup of the Cache County Council starting next year.
The heretofore unchallenged control of that panel by local Republicans will end on Jan. 1, 2027 when two Democrats will join the Cache County Council.
In an unexpected turn of events during the Nov. 3 local balloting, Council Chair Sandi Goodlander lost Logan Seat 3 to Democratic candidate Mark A. Nafziger.
Local residents gave Nafziger 1,411 votes for 56 percent of the ballots cast in that race, compared to 1,089 (43 percent) for Goodlander.
Cache Democrats are also celebrating the success of Allison Goulais, who unseated council member JoAnn Bennett for the Logan District 2 on the Cache County Council.
After her candidacy was bolstered by a last-minute endorsement from GOP County Executive George Daines, Goulas earned 1,153 votes for 58 percent of the ballots cast compared to 826 votes (41 percent) for Bennett.
All other local races ended predictably with incumbent Republicans being re-elected.
In the race for Cache County Clerk, incumbent Bryson J. Belm easily outdistanced Constitution Party challenger David R. Gillie, with Behm wining 18,803 votes for nearly 80 percent of the ballots cast, while Gillie won less than 5,000 ballots for 20 percent.
In Northeast District 5, a total of 2,898 voters cast their ballots for incumbent council member Mark R. Hurd, compared to 1,780 votes won by Democrat Lizette Villegas, a political newcomer.
In the last of the county’s contested races, Kathryn A. Beus retained her Southeast District 7 seat on the Cache County Council by blowing past Peter Thatcher of the Constitution Party.
The final ballot count in that race was 3,720 for Beus (80 percent) and 923 for Thatcher (20 percent).
All other local races here in Cache County were uncontested.
The winners in those contests were J. Brett Chambers for County Attorney with 19,473 votes; Matthew Funk for County Auditor with 19,330 votes; George Daines for County Executive with 18,917 votes; and Chad Jensen for County Sheriff with 19, 580 votes.