Joel Ferry, Director of the Department of Natural Resources, got the last laugh on Democrats as he cruised to an easy victory in state House District 1, give the Box Elder GOP an opportunity to replace him.
BRIGHAM CITY — Despite two lawsuits filed by the Utah Democrat Party, former state Rep. Joel Ferry (R-Dist.1) remained on the midterm ballot and cruised to a huge victory on Tuesday night.
Ferry easily beat challenger Joshua Hardy by a 7,237-vote margin in a contest that Democrats insist should never have taken place.
Combining votes from Cache and Box Elder counties, Ferry captured 9,152 votes for 82.7 percent of votes cast, compared to Hardy’s 1,915 votes for 17.3 percent.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox ignited this brouhaha when he named Ferry as the new director of the Department of Natural Resources in June.
Initially, Ferry refused to give up his District 1 seat in the Legislature representing the Cache County communities of Clarkston, Cornish and Newton as well as significant portions of Box Elder County and the West Desert.
Under mounting political pressure from Democrats, Ferry finally resigned his seat in August, but his name remained on the midterm ballot.
Ferry believed that he should be allowed to run to retain his seat in the Legislature and then resign, giving the GOP the opportunity to select a Republican replacement.
If Ferry had been removed from the running, Hardy’s name would have been the only one to appear on the ballot in a legislative district that is about 80 percent Republican, according to local GOP chair Dale Millsap.
Ferry’s position was supported by Cox, Lt. Gov. Diedre Henderson and eventually by Utah and federal courts that denied Democrats’ pleas to remove him from the ballot.
The Box Elder Republican Party will now convene a special election to replace Ferry.