UTAH – In possibly one of the most important midterm elections, Republicans are taking full advantage of voter dissatisfaction and sweeping in to take control over the House, though it is projected that Democrats will hold onto the Senate. Many Tea Party candidates were voted into office, helping the GOP to secure their takeover of the House.

In Utah, Congressman Jim Matheson fought an uphill battle from both Democrats and Republicans in this election. Earlier he faced his first primary since being voted into office in 2000. Republican Morgan Philpot also proved to be tough to beat, trailing Matheson by only 10 points leading up to Election Day.

In Washington County, Matheson is no longer the favored choice, although he considers himself to be a conservative. Philpot easily took the majority of votes in the county, but Matheson gained it back in Salt Lake County. At just before 11 p.m., 46 percent of the votes had been counted, showing Matheson with 52 percent of those votes and Philpot at 43 percent. Locals Wayne Hill and Randall Hinton had just under one percent and two percent respectively.

Mike Lee is expected to win his bid for Senate with 60 percent of the votes thus far.  

Gov. Gary Herbert is holding on with over 63 percent of votes so far.

In Washington County, Cory Pulispher is expected to be elected the new sheriff with the majority of votes.

The local school board votes are not in yet, however, Calvin Durfey, Wesley Christiansen, Kelly Blake and Laura Hesson are pulling ahead.

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