Salt Lake City voters have elected
their first openly gay mayor: Jackie Biskupski.
An official tally released Wednesday
shows Biskupski winning the race with 51.5 percent of the vote to
incumbent Ralph Becker's 48.5 percent, the Salt
Lake Tribune reported.
Unofficial results from the November 3
election showed Biskupski leading Becker, who refused to concede
until an official count was announced.
Out Utah Senator Jim Dabakis called the
victory groundbreaking.
“Generations of LGBT people could've
only dreamed of this,” he told the Salt Lake Tribune earlier
this month. “Jackie is now an iconic gay leader. This is a great
moment for Salt Lake City – we're not the stereotype people across
the country think we are.”
Biskupski, a Democrat and a former
state legislator, campaigned as the candidate who would listen to
constituents.
Becker, also a Democrat, strongly
backed LGBT rights during his two terms as mayor. In 2013, he helped
celebrate a ruling striking down Utah's restrictive marriage ban by
marrying gay and lesbian couples.
Biskupski will be sworn in on January
4.