Republican primary for Utah US House seat narrows into recount territory

SALT LAKE CITY — The Republican primary to represent Utah’s 2nd District in Congress was limited to a recount Tuesday after endorsements from influential Republicans left voters with little time to get to know the incumbent congressman before casting their ballots.

The Associated Press said the race between U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy and challenger Colby Jenkins was too close to predict after nearly all precincts in the district announced results on Tuesday.

Maloy, who is seeking her first full term in Congress after winning a special election last fall, had a lead of about 220 votes over Jenkins. That 0.2 percentage point margin put the race within the recount zone, which in Utah occurs when the difference in votes for each candidate is equal to or less than 0.25% of the total votes cast.

“I know we’re in the territory where there may have to be a recount, but I don’t expect a recount to change the outcome,” said Maloy, speaking to reporters via Zoom from Washington, D.C. “I have confidence in the county clerks and their teams and the way they’ve done their jobs.”

Maloy attempted to use former President Donald Trump’s endorsement to undermine her challenger’s conservative credentials, who had largely emphasized his loyalty to Trump during the campaign.

Jenkins, a retired U.S. Army officer and telecommunications specialist, defeated Maloy earlier this year at the GOP state convention, which typically favors candidates farthest to the right. He won the endorsement of delegates after earning the support of Utah’s right-wing U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, but he did not win by a large enough margin to bypass the primary.

Trailing Maloy two weeks after Election Day, Jenkins has seen his opponent’s lead slowly shrink. He can now request a state-funded recount.

“There are many ballots in our southern Utah stronghold that have yet to be counted due to postmark issues,” Jenkins said in a text message. “After the state’s final count, we plan to request a recount to ensure all votes in the county are counted.”

Maloy’s primary win would give Trump his only victory this cycle in Utah, a rare Republican stronghold that has yet to fully embrace its grip on the GOP. A Jenkins win would mean that all of Trump’s picks in Utah have lost their primaries this year.

A Trump-backed candidate for the US Senate lost to the more moderate US Representative John Curtis in the race for Senator Mitt Romney’s open seatMany others who aligned with the former president, in Utah and beyond, lost this year’s primaries, dealing a blow to Trump’s reputation as a Republican kingmaker.

The 2nd District groups liberal Salt Lake City with conservative St. George and includes many rural western Utah towns that lie between the two cities. Democratic voters in and around the capital make it the least red of Utah’s four congressional districts, all of which are Republican-held. But the Republican primary winner is still favored to beat Democratic candidate and family lawyer Nathaniel Woodward in November. The district has not been held by a Democrat since 2013.

The Utah Democratic Party selected Woodward in late May to replace its previous candidate, who withdrew from the race after party members criticized him for defending some contestants in the January 6, 2021, election. riot at the US Capitol.

Maloy, who lives just north of Zion National Park in Cedar City, began her career at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she worked to conserve natural resources, improve water quality and manage nutrients in the vast farmlands of southwestern Utah. As an attorney, she specialized in public lands issues involving soil, water and land ownership. During her brief tenure in Congress, she served on subcommittees focused on water resources and rural development.

Jenkins repeatedly attacked Maloy during the campaign for voting in favor of recent bipartisan spending bills. The congresswoman defended her voting record, noting that those deals were negotiated by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who she called “the most conservative Speaker of the House we’ve had in my lifetime.”