Lawsuit filed to disqualify Celeste Maloy from CD2 race

SALT LAKE CITY — A candidate who ran for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District race has filed a lawsuit asking for Celeste Maloy to be disqualified from the ballot in the race to replace Rep Chris Stewart.

Quin Denning, who was beat out by Maloy at the Republican Party convention, filed the suit in Salt Lake’s 3rd District Court alleging that Maloy wasn’t legally allowed to run because she wasn’t a registered Republican and wasn’t a resident of Utah — two requirements of the Utah Republican party to be eligible for office.

While the U.S. Constitution dictates requirements for federal candidates to run, state law says that a candidate can’t be certified if they’re not a member of that party, unless the party allows for it.

Denning’s suit claims the Lieutenant Governor’s Office didn’t follow Utah state law when they certified her. It also alleges that the Lt. Gov. “knowingly” allowed Maloy to become a candidate and didn’t tell Utah’s GOP before the convention.

“I’m not going to comment on pending litigation,” said Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson about the lawsuit.

Maloy and Denning speak out

Maloy tells KSL NewsRadio in a statement that the suit is “nothing more than a distraction.”

It’s a distraction from facts my opponents would rather forget: I won resoundingly at the State Convention and the Republican State Party made its decision. Utahns deserve a representative who’s focused on doing the work – not playing political games and trying to rewrite history – so that’s exactly what I intend to do. I look forward to continuing my work with consitutents on teh campaign trail who so clearly believe in my mission to build a stronger, freer, future for our nation. 

Denning said he’s suing to restore election integrity. 

“I’m not looking to change the election for me,” He said. “My whole goal is to bring election integrity and election security to light.”

In the filing, Denning claims he invested “tens of thousands of dollars” and “countless hours” on his campaign. He also says his campaign was impacted by “each and every other candidate” in the race.

Denning wasn’t eliminated at the convention, rather he chose to bow out and endorse Greg Hughes when he realized he couldn’t win. It’s not known how this might affect his standing to bring the suit. 

Will Maloy be disqualified?

Bruce Hough and Becky Edwards weigh in

Bruce Hough happened to be at the KSL NewsRadio studios at the time the news of the lawsuit broke.

“There’s certainly nothing that Celste did that I think was intentional to violate any law,” he said. “I think she made some mistakes, but hey — we all make mistakes and I think she deserves a little bit of grace for that.”

Becky Edwards sent a statement.

“Our campaign continues to be laser-focused on communicating Becky Edwards’ track record as one of Utah’s most effective lawmakers and her positive vision for addressing the issues that matter most to voters.”

 

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• Utah’s 2nd Congressional District – what differentiates the GOP candidates
• Women taking over the ballot for the 2nd Congressional District special election
• Bruce Hough qualifies for Republican Primary ballot