Eagle Mountain resident Emily Buss, who has been actively involved in community service for several years, won the Forward Party of Utah preference poll to replace outgoing State Sen. Daniel Thatcher in District 11. That district includes West Valley City, West Jordan and several westside communities.

Thatcher is a registered member of the Forward Party of Utah. Buss’ nomination now goes to Gov. Cox for official appointment. The Forward Party’s online voting system ended on Dec. 11, and Thatcher officially retired from his office at 10 a.m. on Dec. 12.

“I am honored, surprised and grateful to the voters from District 11 for placing their trust in me,” Buss said in a prepared statement. “But this isn’t about me, this is about the people I represent. Together, we will work toward common sense solutions that will strengthen our communities, support our families and bring a brighter future for District 11 and all Utahns.”

Buss was selected from a field of five candidates, each of whom gained “approvals” either online or through a paper ballot. She earned 47.21% of the approvals—625 of the 1,324 votes cast. The unique voting system allowed voters to approve more than one candidate, with the highest number of approvals declared the winner.

“This process marked the first time a political party has voluntarily opened a midterm replacement vote to all registered voters in a district, regardless of party affiliation,” said Phil Boileau, communications director for Forward Party of Utah. Voters who registered were mailed codes on Dec. 5 and could vote through Dec. 11.

“Serving the people of Utah for the past 15 years has been my honor, and I am deeply grateful for the trust and partnership of my constituents,” Thatcher said in a statement. “I want to thank the Forward Party for facilitating an open, transparent and historic process with more participation than any replacement process in Utah history. Seeing every registered voter in this district invited to participate gives me tremendous confidence in the future of our community and its leadership. Congratulations to Senator Elect Buss and more importantly, to her constituents.”

Here’s the breakdown on how the votes tallied.

Tyler Bean 419 online approvals   7 paper approvals   426 total

Maleah Bliss 430 online approvals 6 paper approvals 436 total

Emily Buss 615 online approvals 10 paper approvals 625 total

Jeff Marshall 407 online approvals 11 paper approvals 418 total

Jeff Saunders 395 online approvals 8 paper approvals 403 total