Former House aide Celeste Maloy won the special Republican primary Tuesday in Utah’s 2nd District for the seat held by her former boss, Rep. Chris Stewart, who is resigning next week.
Maloy had a lead of about 1,400 votes in a three-way race Tuesday night, but The Associated Press said it would wait to see if the results changed as more mail ballots were counted. Almost all votes in Utah are cast by mail and ballots completed by Tuesday would be counted if they were received as late as Sept. 19.
The AP called the race at 7:54 p.m. Wednesday, and a tally on the state’s website showed Maloy ahead by more than 2,400 votes. She had 38 percent to former state legislator Becky Edwards’ 35 percent and former state Republican Party chairman Bruce Hough’s 27 percent. Edwards, a critic of former President Donald Trump who had challenged GOP Sen. Mike Lee for the nomination in 2022 and raised the most money for the special election, conceded.
