Celeste Maloy defeated Becky Edwards and Bruce Hough in the Republican primary for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District held on Sept. 5. Maloy received 38.3% of the vote, while Edwards and Hough received 35.1% and 26.6%, respectively. As of Sept. 6, approximately 82% of the votes were counted.
Maloy advanced to the general election on Nov. 21, 2023. Seven candidates will be on the ballot, including the Democratic nominee Kathleen Riebe.
Incumbent Rep. Chris Stewart (R), first elected in 2012, will resign on Sept. 15. This is the first U.S. House special election in Utah since 2017, and the fifth in state history.
Maloy was counsel for Stewart’s Washington, D.C., office from 2019 to 2023, before which she worked as a soil conservationist and deputy county attorney in Washington County. Edwards served in the Utah House from 2009 to 2018, before which she worked as a family therapist and social worker. Hough, a political consultant and business owner, chaired the Utah Republican Party from 1991 to 1995 and served as a national committeeman with the Republican National Committee.
Ballotpedia tracked all noteworthy endorsements related to this race. To view a full list of these endorsements, click here.
Stewart was re-elected in 2022, defeating Nick Mitchell (D), 60% to 34%. Based on district lines drawn following the decennial census, Donald Trump (R) would have received 57% of the district vote to Joe Biden’s (D) 40% in 2020.
As of Sept. 6, four special elections have been called for the 118th Congress. From the 113th Congress to the 117th Congress, 67 special elections were held. For more data on historical congressional special elections, click here.
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