SALT LAKE CITY — The day after Utahns went to the polls to choose a replacement for Rep. Chris Stewart in the U.S. Congress, the race was so close it is still too close to call.
As of Wednesday morning, Celeste Maloy holds a slim lead over Becky Edwards to earn the Republican nomination in Utah's Congressional District 2 and advance to the General Election in November.
CURRENT PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS (Updated: Wednesday, September 6 - 4:30 p.m.)
- Celeste Maloy - 29,335 (38.31%)
- Becky Edwards - 26,904 (35.14%)
- Bruce Hough - 20,332 (26.55%)
After Edwards took a large lead in early results, Maloy surged ahead by a slight margin later in the evening.
Maloy currently leads Edwards by less than 1,500 votes, while Bruce Hough trails in third place. It's not known how many outstanding votes are left to count.
Stewart announced his resignation in May during his sixth term and plans to be with his wife while she recovers from medical issues.
The winner of the primary election will fill the seat in Congress until the 2024 election.
At 4 p.m. Tuesday, Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said on social media that voter turnout for the race had hit 33.1 percent. Vote Utah later wrote that all 13 counties in the district had finished reporting results and would update the tabulations at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
“The race is still too close to call. While we don’t know the final outcome, we know we have the momentum and are feeling very optimistic," said Maloy in a statement released overnight. "As we predicted, southern and rural Utah came in strong. We ran a positive race focused on policy and issues and that clearly resonated with the voters. While victory is not yet at hand, we are confident a conservative from the district will represent CD-2.”
When all results do come in, they will be finalized when a "canvas" takes place two weeks after the election on Sept. 19.
The General Election is scheduled to be held Nov. 21. The Democratic Party has already selected Kathleen Riebe as their nominee for the General Election in this race.
