Utah 2023 election results: Celeste Maloy to replace Chris Stewart in Congress
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Republican and former Washington County attorney Celeste Maloy has won Utah's special election to replace her former boss, longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart.
Maloy led handily after the preliminary round of vote totals reported Tuesday out of the state elections office with 54.7% of the vote, prompting the Associated Press to call the race in her favor.
Democrat Kathleen Riebe was in second place with 36.8%, with five third-party and independent candidates splitting the remainder.
Tuesday's election was held on an off-year and two weeks later than normal to accommodate a shorter-than-usual primary race after Stewart announced he was leaving office in May. A six-term Congress member reelected just last year, Stewart announced he would resign because his wife was ill. He stepped down on Sept. 15.
Maloy would fill the remainder of Stewart's current term and face reelection next November.
Maloy was Stewart's chief legal counsel for the last four years, and he backed her in the GOP's September primary, helping her to win a close contest against former state lawmaker Becky Edwards and businessman Bruce Hough.
A longtime resident of southwestern Utah who worked for Washington County before her time working as an attorney for Stewart, Maloy performed especially well in localities off the Wasatch Front, dominating rural parts of the state, according to the preliminary results.
Having spent the better part of two decades working in rural Utah, including as a public lands attorney for entities like Washington County, Maloy campaigned heavily on her knowledge of the issues most important to parts of Utah away from Salt Lake City.
A late entry to the race, Maloy surprised some in the GOP's nominating convention in June, beating out better-known candidates like former Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes.
She then won a narrow victory in the September primary, relying on strong support from rural parts of the state.
Maloy would become the only woman among Utah's four-person delegation in Congress and only the fifth in the state's history.
The state's most recent female U.S. representative, Mia Love, served from 2015-2019 and was the state's first Black congresswoman.
This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Republican Celeste Maloy wins Utah race for Congress
