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SALT LAKE CITY — Celeste Maloy is the projected winner of the Republican primary for Utah's 2nd Congressional District seat.
The Associated Press called the race in Maloy's favor at 5:54 p.m. on Wednesday.
"I am both humbled, and honored, to receive this vote of confidence from Utah's 2nd Congressional District," Maloy said in a statement posted to the platform X, formerly known as Twitter. "The past three months have been nothing short of incredible, and I couldn't have done it without my family, an amazing campaign team, and the support of leaders like Congressman Chris Stewart.
"I respect anyone who is willing to throw their hat into the arena and run for office. During the next three months, I will work just as hard as I have in this primary to unify our party and ensure a Republican win in November. As I've said throughout this race, I will represent the entire district. There will not be an area, a county, or a community in this district that will have anything less than my full attention as your representative in Congress."
Maloy will now face state Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, in the Nov. 21 general election. The winner will become the fifth woman to represent the state of Utah in the U.S. House of Representatives.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
— Celeste Maloy (@CelesteMaloyUT) September 7, 2023
Thank you CD2 Republicans for your faith and trust! #utpolpic.twitter.com/391HamvjeI
The race was too close to call late Tuesday night, but Maloy held a narrow lead after strong showings in Washington County and other rural areas in southern Utah. Maloy's lead over Edwards increased to 2,431 votes on Wednesday afternoon after updates from Beaver, Davis, Iron, Kane and Tooele counties.
Bruce Hough trails Edwards by 6,572 votes.
Here are the latest vote totals with five of the 13 counties reporting on Wednesday:
- Celeste Maloy (29,335 votes), 38.31%
- Becky Edwards (26,904), 35.14%
- Bruce Hough (20,332), 26.55%
About 82% of all votes are in, but Salt Lake and Washington counties have only counted 77% and 64% of their votes, respectively, according to a New York Times analysis of Associated Press results.
As a moderate former state lawmaker from Davis County, Edwards' best path to victory was to win big along the Wasatch Front, but her margins weren't large enough there to propel her to victory.
Edwards is winning in Salt Lake County with 61% of the vote and leads in Davis County with a plurality of 46%.
Meanwhile, Maloy has won — often by large margins — every other county in the district besides Juab, which is currently split evenly three ways.
There are around 13,000 outstanding ballots in Washington County — where Maloy has received 44% compared to Edwards' 22% — and around 2,600 in Salt Lake County.
Hough is also outperforming Edwards in Washington County with 34%.
With Maloy expected to win at least a plurality of the remaining votes from Washington County, and given the relatively few outstanding ballots in Salt Lake County, Edwards faced an insurmountable deficit.
Edwards conceded shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday in a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
"While there remain ballots to be counted, we have come up short in this race," she said.
