Edwards concedes Utah’s 2nd Congressional District Republican primary

SALT LAKE CITY –Becky Edwards conceded the race in the 2nd Congressional District GOP primary on Wednesday evening.

While there remain ballots to be counted, we have come up short in this race.

As our campaign comes to a close, we want to extend our deepest gratitude to each and every one of you. pic.twitter.com/UdJ6jVqE45

— Becky Edwards (@beckyforutah) September 6, 2023

Edwards’ announcement comes short after the latest batch of results were released. Those results showed that Celeste Maloy’s lead had grown to nearly 2,500 votes. 

Reaction from Maloy

Maloy issued a statement Wednesday evening on her victory.

“I am both humbled, and honored, to receive this vote of confidence from Utah’s 2nd congressional district.

“The past three months have been nothing short of incredible, and I couldn’t have done it without my family, an amazing campaign team, and the support of leaders like Congressman Chris Stewart.

“I respect anyone who is willing to throw their hat into the arena and run for office.”

Maloy has overtaken Becky Edwards by a little more than 1,400 votes by 6:05 a.m. on Wednesday morning in the Republican primary according to the state of Utah elections webpage.  

Hough wishes Maloy the best of luck

Bruce Hough also issued a statement Wednesday night, congratulating Maloy on her win.

“First, I want to thank my wonderful wife and children for supporting me in this endeavor.  I also want to extend my sincere thanks to all of those that believed in me enough to support, volunteer, or vote for me. This was a wonderful experience.

“I congratulate Celeste on her projected victory. I enjoyed our time together on the campaign trail as we debated in 11 of the counties in the district.

“She will provide the citizens of the 2nd district with excellent representation. I support her 100% as she moves forward to the general election.”With Davis, Garfield, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Piute, Salt Lake, Sevier, Tooele, and Washington Counties reporting, Celeste Maloy was in the lead with 37.34%, while Becky Edwards followed with 37.02%, and Bruce Hough was in third place with 25.64% of the vote.

All 13 counties in Congressional District 2 are done reporting for tonight.

Results will be updated on our website tomorrow at 5pm.

— Vote Utah (@ElectionsUtah) September 6, 2023

Updated totals will be available on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

 

The first comments from @beckyforutah as the returns are her with a 51 to @BHough4Congress 26% to @CelesteMaloyUT 22%.

She’s happy with this lead but still a lot of votes to come in.@kslnewsradio #utpol pic.twitter.com/5gTKkvF0Db

— Lindsay Aerts (@LindsayOnAir) September 6, 2023

Other Salt Lake County races

There were multiple municipal races in Salt Lake County. By 9:24 p.m., Sharon Daurella had 41.30% of the vote for Cottonwood Heights Council District 2.

Paul Pickett led with 52.04% in the race for Murray City Council District 1.

In the race for West Valley City Council, Tom Huynh was leading with 50.75% of the vote.

See all Salt Lake County municipal races.

Weber County election results

By 9:35 p.m. on primary election night, less than 100 votes separated Taylor Knuth, Ben Nadolski, and Bart E. Blair in the race for Ogden Mayor. 

Taylor Knuth released a statement noting the close nature of the election, thus far.

“We always knew this would be a close race. I trust the process and look forward to seeing the final vote count, but we are incredibly encouraged by the initial results.”

At the same time, Weber County Clerk Ricky Hatch said additional election results wouldn’t be released until Thursday.

Related: Race to Replace Rep. Chris Stewart

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