SALT LAKE CITY -- Votes are still being counted in the race for Salt Lake City Mayor, and Erin Mendenhall leads by more than 17 points as of Wednesday morning.

The latest results show Mendenhall with 58.60 percent (19,819 votes) and Luz Escamilla with 41.40 percent (13,999 votes).

Mendenhall came by the Fox 13 Studio Wednesday morning to discuss the race, saying with thousands of ballots still to be counted the race won't be decided for a few more days.

"The lead right now feels good; it's very encouraging," she said.

She also said she appreciated the tone she and her opponent carried through this race.

"I think we did very well at making this a content-based, really important conversation: not an attack on each other at every turn," Mendenhall said. "I think that was unique. Not just for Salt Lake City politics, but nationally."

In an interview with FOX 13 on Tuesday night, Escamilla said she will not concede until all votes are counted. She is in familiar territory, as early primary results showed her trailing both Jim Dabakis and Mendenhall before outstanding ballots lifted her into the general election.

“We’ve knocked over 40,000 doors in this campaign, made nearly as many phone calls, and were turning out voters right up until the polls closed,” Escamilla said in a statement issued late Tuesday. “We’re confident the outstanding ballots will break in our favor and we’ll come out on top.”

More ballot returns are expected Thursday and Friday. Those are provisional and ballots dropped off at vote centers on Election Day.