Candidates

Heidi Franco

Mayor, second term

• Won the November 4, 2025 mayor race, 2,263 votes (53.01%) to D. Scott Phillips’s 2,006 (46.99%). Sworn in for a second term in January 2026.
• The city lists a BYU degree in political science, a master’s in public administration, and a University of Utah doctorate in political science. She has taught government for more than sixteen years.
• City assignments: Animal Control Board, Heber Valley Historic Railroad Authority, Wasatch Open Lands Board, Heber Valley Special Service District, Heber Light and Power, and the personnel committee.
• At an October 2025 forum she supported bypass Alternative A because it stays out of the North Fields. Her campaign lines were citizen contact, traffic, open space, and infrastructure.

City page[email protected]

Yvonne Barney

City Council, second term

• Re-elected November 4, 2025 in a vote-for-two race: 2,108 votes (26.79%), one vote ahead of Morgan Murdock (2,105). Corey Noyes and Nick Lopez trailed.
• City assignments: Parks, Open Space, Trails, and Trees; Heber Valley Special Service District; Heber Light and Power.
• December 17, 2024 she voted no on Ordinance 2024-24, the Crossings and Harvest Village item at Highway 40 and Highway 32. It passed 3–2. She also voted no when Heber adopted the downtown community reinvestment area. Johnston, Ostergaard, and Phillips were the yes votes on both.
• In 2025 she told the Park Record her priorities were traffic, the U.S. 40 bypass, and keeping parks maintained. She said she prefers a bypass that does not cross the North Fields, and that she was ready to vote against bringing ranked-choice voting back.

City page[email protected]

Scott Phillips

Former council member, lost the 2025 mayor race

• On the Heber City Council from 2021 through the end of 2025. He ran for mayor instead of a second council term and left office after the loss. Morgan Murdock took the open seat.
• He voted yes on Ordinance 2024-24 and yes on the downtown community reinvestment area, the two city items above.
• At the October 2025 forum he supported bypass Alternative B, citing a 65 mph speed and no stoplights. He works as a financial advisor.
• The Park Record’s October 31, 2025 reading of the disclosures said Michael Bradshaw of Momentum Development Group, the Jordanelle Ridge developer, gave his campaign $2,109, and that Phillips had spent more than $36,000. Franco had spent nearly $16,000. He is not on a 2026 ballot.

Disclosure report

Rachel Kahler

Republican nominee

• Executive director of Community Alliance for Main Street (CAMS), a nonprofit working on downtown Heber.
• Disclosed interests: CAMS; unpaid board, Red, White & Blue Festival; business manager, 5 in the Hive, LLC, a Wasatch County rental.
• She updated that disclosure on October 1, 2026, nine months after a form that reported no conflicts.

Voting recordDisclosure article[email protected]

Jami Hewlett

Write-in, Seat A

• Seventh-generation county resident, small-business owner, and a former Heber Planning Commission alternate. She also ran for county council in 2023 and Heber council in 2024.
• Her site says she would work to unwind MIDA, drop PID and tax-increment subsidies, and put infrastructure and water ahead of developer-backed growth.

writeinjami.com

Erik Rowland

Incumbent, running for re-election

• On the county council since 2023, chair, and a MIDA board member appointed in 2026. He previously served on the Heber City Council.
• Also sits on the Children’s Justice Center advisory board, Heber Valley tourism board, emergency planning, personnel, North Village special service district, boundary commission, and open lands board.
• In March 2026 he drafted the county letter asking UDOT not to run a highway through the North Fields.

Voting recorderikrowland.comConflict disclosure

Alex Folmer

Write-in

• Fifteen years on the Wasatch Back. A master’s in decision and information sciences, and two decades in public-institution operations.
• Volunteer with Preserve Midway and Friends of Heber Valley. His three lines are: show the full cost of growth, protect water and open land, and keep state authorities answerable locally.
• A vote for him has to be written in. The printed ballot does not include his name.

votealexfolmer.com[email protected]Conflict disclosure

Michael Murphy

Republican, interim council member

• Appointed April 22, 2026 to finish Karl McMillan’s term after McMillan resigned for health reasons. He was the only Republican applicant. The council’s appointment was unanimous. The interim term runs until January 2027.
• A defense contractor who lives in Timber Lakes. He had been a county planning commissioner and a party delegate. This is his first elected office. KPCW reported in September 2026 that he faces Joe Tugaw in November.
• In the compiled file since the appointment: 78 roll calls, 56 yes, 0 no, 6 absent, 16 not recorded. No recorded no votes on the tax, development, or PID labels. The file is short.

Council baseline

Mark Nelson

Seat E, term through 2028

• Won a third term in November 2024, defeating Democrat Sherrie Bercuson. KPCW put the finished share at about 65% to 35%. The seat covers Midway and western Wasatch County.
• On November 20, 2024 he voted yes to put the county into Heber’s downtown tax-increment deal. It failed 3–3, with one abstention. He said Heber’s interest in that deal lined up with the county’s.
• Compiled record for 2023 through September 2, 2026: 860 roll calls, 771 yes, 3 no, 4 abstentions, 1 recusal. The topic labels show 0 no votes on tax, 1 on development, and 0 on public infrastructure districts.

Council baselineCRA vote

Colleen Bonner

Seat B, at large, term through 2028

• Took office in January 2025 after winning the 2024 Republican primary and running unopposed in the general. Twelve years on the Midway City Council, then four years as Midway mayor. She lost the 2017 mayor race to Celeste Johnson.
• She has said she wants the unincorporated county to keep a rural feel, and in August 2025 she said she had hoped a state-land plan east of Heber would stay around 500 units.
• Compiled record since January 2025: 409 roll calls, 377 yes, 4 no, 1 abstention. Topic labels: 1 no on tax, 3 on development, 0 on public infrastructure districts.

Council baseline

Spencer Park

Seat G, term through 2028

• Re-elected in November 2024 with no opponent. The seat covers Wallsburg and the south end of the county.
• On November 20, 2024 he abstained on the downtown tax-increment deal because he owns a commercial building in the area. He said most of his rural constituents would have been against it.
• In October 2024 he was one of two no votes on putting $2 million toward a conservation easement on 119 acres west of Midway. The council approved it 5–2 after the deputy county attorney warned of legal risk.
• In August 2025 he said he could not accept more than 500 units on the state-land plan east of Heber, and that hotel rooms should count in that total.
• Compiled record: 860 roll calls, 731 yes, 6 no, 7 abstentions. Topic labels: 1 no on tax, 4 on development, 0 on public infrastructure districts.

Council baselineEasement vote

Luke Searle

Republican, Utah House District 59

• County council Seat A since 2023. He won the June 2026 Republican primary with 58% (3,136 votes) over Jeffrey Pierce and is running for the House instead of another council term.
• His campaign site lists public safety, open space and parks, and low property taxes. He would replace Rep. Mike Kohler. District 59 covers Summit and Wasatch counties.

Voting recordlukeforutah.com307-350-5300

Celeste Johnson

Democrat, Utah House District 59

• Midway mayor for two terms, 2018–2025, re-elected unopposed, then left the job to run for the House. She defeated Micah Kagan for the Democratic nomination in May 2026.
• As mayor she backed two open-space bonds, trail links, and state and federal conservation money. Her platform is farms and local control, housing that working families can use, and decisions made by people who live with them.

celestejohnsonforutah.com[email protected]

Ron Winterton

Republican incumbent, Senate District 20

• In the Utah Senate since 2019. Chair of Government Operations and Political Subdivisions. The district includes Daggett, Duchesne, Summit, Uintah, and Wasatch counties.

Annette McCrae

Forward Party, Senate District 20

• Challenging Winterton. Listed as a former Oakley mayor, a detail this file still marks as needing a check. She has worked as a Duchesne County school bus driver and office assistant and as a real-estate agent, and holds a 2014 Utah State degree in criminal justice.
• Her public focus is cross-agency coordination, environment, and energy. She has described the campaign as “24 months building a doctrine, not a slogan.”

Tiara Auxier

Republican incumbent, House District 4

• In the House since January 2025 after a special election when Kera Birkeland resigned. First full term on the 2026 ballot. The district includes the Morgan County area. Her site emphasizes conservative votes and religious freedom.

tiara4utah.com

Zane Woolstenhulme

Democrat, House District 4

• Former Oakley mayor. Won the June 2026 Democratic primary and faces Auxier in November.