Less than 1,000 votes separate Maloy and Jenkins in Utah congressional race. Maloy still ahead
Voters are closely watching the tight GOP primary race for Utah’s 2nd District, which still had not been called as of Thursday afternoon. Rep. Celeste Maloy has maintained a lead over her challenger Colby Jenkins throughout the vote count, but that lead has narrowed to fewer than 1,000 votes as of Thursday evening.
As of Thursday evening, Maloy, the incumbent, was ahead of Jenkins 50.5% to 49.5%. The race has not yet been called since some counties are still processing ballots.
In Salt Lake County, more than 16,000 were being processed Thursday afternoon, Lannie Chapman, the Salt Lake County clerk, told the Deseret News. She said she expected a large ballot drop to happen Thursday evening.
The 2nd District includes the southwestern portion of the state, as well as parts of Salt Lake and Davis counties.
Maloy was more popular according to counts Thursday in at least 10 counties, including Salt Lake, Beaver and Garfield. Jenkins performed well in Juab and Washington County, his and Maloy’s home turf, receiving more than 57% of the vote there. Tooele County also leaned toward Jenkins.
Maloy optimistic, Jenkins watching results
On election night, Maloy said she was optimistic about the results. “It was a year ago yesterday that I won at the special convention in Delta,” she said. “In the last 12 months plus one day, I’ve run in a convention, a primary a general convention and another primary — and that’s almost inhuman. So, I’m excited that I’m still standing, that I’m still capable of putting sentences together and that I’m still smiling.”
In a statement to the Deseret News on Wednesday, Jenkins said, “Because the results are still very close and there are several thousand outstanding ballots to be counted, we are looking forward to watching as more updates come in.”
He promised additional comments “when the final outcome becomes clear.”
