ABOVE: Salt Lake City’s Derek Kitchen won a seat in the Utah Senate. Photo courtesy of Kitchen’s Facebook page.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) | Salt Lake City councilman Derek Kitchen has been declared the winner of his Democratic primary race for a Utah Senate seat representing one of the state’s rare left-leaning districts.
The Salt Lake County Clerk released final results Tuesday showing 29-year-old Kitchen won the race by 5 percentage points over physician Jennifer Plumb.
Kitchen had led in the returns since the June 26 primary but Plumb had refused to concede until the final vote tally was released.
He is known locally for filing a 2013 lawsuit that successfully overturned Utah’s prohibition on same-sex marriage.
He will be the heavy favorite against Republican software company executive Chase Winder in the general election.
The winner of the race will replace outspoken Sen. Jim Dabakis, who is a Democrat. The district covers most of Salt Lake City.
