Rep. Celeste Maloy officially declared victory in the extremely close 2nd Congressional District Republican primary after the Utah Supreme Court denied a request from her opponent, Colby Jenkins, to count late postmarked ballots.
The Utah Supreme Court’s ruling — coming exactly seven weeks after Election Day — marks the end of Maloy’s primary close-call that included various lawsuits from Jenkins and a recount which she won by just 176 of 107,378 votes. The Associated Press called the race for Maloy at 8:10pm on Tuesday night.
Maloy, who entered office nine months ago after winning a special election, posted a video statement in response to the court’s decision, saying she hoped all voters would accept her commitment to represent them.
“I’m going to work hard for Utah and for the people of the 2nd District, regardless of where they fell in this primary,” Maloy said.
Jenkins expressed disappointment over the decision and said the close race exposed weaknesses in Utah’s vote-by mail system in a written statement.
“Today is a sad day for Democracy,” Jenkins said. “The Utah State Supreme Court’s decision means hundreds of properly cast votes will go uncounted. This ruling undermines fundamental voting rights and sets a troubling precedent for future elections.”
Jenkins filed multiple lawsuits in CD2 race
Jenkins filed two lawsuits during the canvass period following the June 25 election. Each of the lawsuits alleged unfair treatment by county election officials who either denied voter information to his campaign or who discarded ballots that were postmarked late by the U.S. Postal Service after they were allegedly put in the mail on time.
While both were dismissed, the judges assigned to the cases said there was room for improvement in Utah’s primarily vote-by-mail election system.
Following these judicial dead ends, Jenkins petitioned Utah’s highest court to count all mail-in ballots, including those with late postmarks, because election officials had allegedly violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by rejecting ballots that voters said were mailed before the deadline but received a late postmark after being rerouted to the postal service’s Las Vegas Area Distribution Center.
Jenkins, a political newcomer who rose to prominence after nearly ousting Maloy at the state party convention with an endorsement from Sen. Mike Lee, previously said he would accept the results of the election if he were to lose. Jenkins called Maloy to congratulate her on her victory shortly after the court’s decision was released, he said.
Jenkins also called on state lawmakers to act in the upcoming legislative session to prevent future “disenfranchisement” stemming from “outsourcing our Utah elections to another entity.”
Jenkins’ lawsuits alleged that multiple 2nd District voters were willing to sign affidavits saying their ballots were put in the mail during the recommended time and that they had not been made aware that their ballots could be delayed even though the state legislature was aware of this problem before the election.
“That must change and this must never happen again,” Jenkins said Tuesday.
Utah Supreme Court: election officials didn’t violate Constitution
In its ruling, the Utah Supreme Court said Jenkins’ attorneys were unable to “identify any instance where election officials failed to comply with any statutory mandate.” The court’s justices also said Jenkins failed to demonstrate that Utah’s voting system results in differential treatment of voters or that reliance on the postal service interferes with “the fundamental right to vote.”
The ruling pointed out that only a small minority of the ballots rejected because of a late postmark in Washington County were rerouted through the Las Vegas facility.
“[A] constitutional violation is not apparent under these facts,” the ruling reads. “Voters who wish to take advantage of mail-in voting can ensure that their ballots are timely postmarked by mailing them well in advance of the election deadline or by taking their ballots to the post office and asking for them to be postmarked.”
The Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office, which oversees elections in the state, issued a statement saying the denial of Jenkins’ petition confirms that local election officials conducted the election legally and fairly. The office of Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson does not count any votes. But they do certify multi-county election results and provide guidance when problems arise, like when Tooele and Washington faced a software error during the 2nd District recount.
“The Jenkins ruling affirmed what most Utahns already know: our county clerks are honorable people who faithfully administer elections according to the law,” Henderson said. “The Court has made it abundantly clear that there is no legal basis to challenge the results of this election—for any race. The primary is over. It is time to move on.”
Maloy on track to serve a 2nd term
The conclusion of the extended election was met with congratulations from the National Republican Congressional Committee — the House committee tasked with increasing the number of GOP representatives.
“Congratulations to Congresswoman Celeste Maloy on her primary election victory,” NRCC Spokeswoman Delanie Bomar said. “Since last November she has faithfully served Utah by working to secure the border, fighting inflation and advocating for Hill Air Force Base. Utahns have spoken – they want a strong conservative representative in D.C., and that’s who Celeste has been and will continue to be as their Congresswoman.”
A week before the primary election, former President Donald Trump put his thumb on the scale for Maloy. Trump endorsed Maloy just hours after meeting with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who had also endorsed the congresswoman, along with Utah’s entire U.S. House delegation.
In her first term, Maloy introduced legislation — with Lee — to transfer some federal lands to Utah, passed a bill to improve government programs for women-owned small businesses, pushed the Justice Department to crack down on teen vaping and voted against further military aid to Ukraine.
Maloy’s vote in favor of the $1.2 trillion 2024 government funding package and her decision to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, after the failure of an amendment requiring warrants to collect information from Americans, both served as reasons for Lee’s endorsement of Jenkins, and fodder for Jenkins’ campaign attacks.
Maloy will face the Democratic Party nominee, attorney Nathaniel Woodward, in the general election on Nov. 5.