Three races to watch in Salt Lake County

As Nov. 8 approaches, here are three races we are watching in Salt Lake County.

County council: Democrat Suzanne Harrison is challenging incumbent Republican Richard Snelgrove for one of the council's at-large seats.

• Snelgrove's re-election would help protect the council's 6-3 Republican majority.
• But Harrison, a Draper physician, is out-raising him nearly 10-to-1 and gained voter recognition from her ongoing term in the Utah House, where she was a vocal critic of Republicans' handling of COVID.

County clerk: Republican Goud Maragani is seeking to run the county's elections after spreading false claims of fraud in the 2020 election, per The Salt Lake Tribune.

• Democrat Lannie Chapman is hoping to take the reins from longtime clerk Sherrie Swensen (also a Democrat), who is retiring after more than 30 years in office.

State school board: In District 8, which covers West Jordan, Taylorsville and Kearns, Republican Christine Boggess has been a vocal opponent of critical race theory, has spoken at right-wing events and was endorsed by the conservative group Utahns Against Common Core.

• In their debate, Democrat Audryn Damron opposed Boggess' support for efforts to censor school library books and eliminate student mental health surveys.