Utah's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (June 25 Republican primary)

	2026 → ← 2022
Utah's 2nd Congressional District
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: January 8, 2024
	Primary: June 25, 2024; General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Voting in Utah
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Republican; DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Republican; Inside Elections: Solid Republican; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
	Utah's 2nd Congressional District; U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th; Utah elections, 2024; U.S. Congress elections, 2024; U.S. Senate elections, 2024; U.S. House elections, 2024; Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

Utah 2024 elections

U.S. Senate • U.S. House • Governor • Lt. Gov • Attorney General • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Special state legislative • Supreme court • Appellate courts • State ballot measures • Local ballot measures • School boards • How to run for office

Incumbent Celeste Maloy (R) defeated Colby Jenkins (R) in the Republican primary for Utah's 2nd Congressional District on June 25, 2024. Click here for more detailed results.

Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson (R) certified the election results during the statewide canvass on July 22, which showed that Maloy defeated Jenkins 50.1% to 49.9% with a margin of 0.20%.^[1] In Utah, candidates can request a recount if the margin of victory is less than 0.25% of the total votes cast.^[2] Jenkins formally requested a recount on July 29.^[3]^[4] The recount was completed on August 5 with Maloy winning by a margin of 176 votes, down from the 214-vote margin originally certified.^[5]

Before the results of the recount were announced, Jenkins filed a petition with the Utah Supreme Court to contest the election.^[6] A lawyer for Jenkins said the state's postmark deadline for mail-in ballots violated the Utah Constitution.^[7] The court heard arguments for the lawsuit on August 9.^[8] The court dismissed the lawsuit on August 13, and Jenkins conceded defeat the same day.^[9]^[10]

For more information on the events following the election, click here.

Maloy was elected to the U.S. House in a 2023 special election following the resignation of Chris Stewart (R). She previously worked as counsel for Stewart’s office and as an attorney.^[11] Maloy said she would "fight to secure our border, finish the wall, fully fund our border patrol, and keep dangerous drugs like fentanyl out of our communities."^[12] Maloy also said she would give Utah citizens "control over the land and resources they depend on to make a living" and reduce government spending and regulations that affect Utah residents.^[12] Additionally, she said she would support individuals’ "right to worship and practice their faith as they see fit."^[12] Former President Donald Trump (R), former U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), and Stewart endorsed Maloy.^[13]^[14]

Jenkins served in the U.S. Army Special Forces and U.S. Army Reserve, and he was a counter-terrorism policy advisor to the secretary of defense and a senior legislative advisor in the Pentagon.^[15] Jenkins said he believed the primary job of the government was national security, that "securing our borders is vital for national strength," and that he would "fulfill promises made to those who were willing to sacrifice all in its defense."^[16] Jenkins said he would vote to protect citizens’ Second and Fourth Amendment rights.^[16] Jenkins said he is pro-life and that he would "advocate for the autonomy of states in regulating abortion" and oppose "the use of taxpayer funds for abortions within our state."^[16] U.S. Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) endorsed Jenkins, as well as the House Freedom Fund.^[17]

In Utah, state parties hold conventions to determine who will appear on the party’s primary ballot. At the Republican convention on April 27, 2024, Jenkins defeated Maloy 56.8% to 43.2%. Any candidate who gets more than 40% of the vote advances to the primary.^[18] Candidates for the U.S. House can also gather 7,000 signatures to qualify.^[18] Before the convention, Maloy announced she would not gather signatures, while Jenkins said he would.^[19]^[20]

Nathaniel Woodward (D) advanced from the Democratic primary unopposed after it was canceled, meaning Maloy faced him in the general election. As of August 14, 2024, four major election forecasters rated the general election Solid/Safe Republican.

This page focuses on Utah's 2nd Congressional District Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Aftermath

Jenkins' campaign formally requested a recount on July 29 after the final results were within the 0.25% margin eligible for a recount in Utah.^[4]^[2] The section below details a timeline of events related to the potential recount and a summary of the laws governing recounts in Utah.

Post-election timeline

August 13: The Utah Supreme Court dismissed Jenkins' lawsuit.^[9] Jenkins conceded defeat after the dismissal was announced, and Maloy declared victory.^[9]^[10]
August 9: The Utah Supreme Court heard arguments for Jenkins' petition.^[8]
August 5: The recount Jenkins requested was completed with Maloy winning by a margin of 176 votes, down from the 214-vote margin originally certified.^[21]
July 30: Jenkins filed a petition with the Utah Supreme Court to contest the election saying the state's postmark deadline for mail-in ballots violated the Utah Constitution.^[22]^[7]
July 29: Jenkins formally requested a recount.^[4] This was also the deadline for candidates to request a recount.^[23] In Utah, if candidates decide to request a recount, they must do so within seven days of the canvass.^[23]
July 22: Election results expected to be certified by the statewide canvass.^[24]^[25]
July 9: Deadline for counties to send their results to the statewide canvass.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many^[26]^[25]
June 28: Jenkins' campaign announced it would request a recount if the results fall within the 0.25% margin eligible for a recount in Utah.^[2]

Recount laws in Utah

See also: Recount laws in Utah

The list below shows answers to common questions regarding recounts in Utah.^[27]

Does state law require automatic recounts?
- Yes, when a tie vote occurs. Utah also requires recounts in municipalities that have adopted ranked-choice voting when certain margins are met while tabulating the vote. See below to learn more.

When must an automatic recount be completed?
- No later than 10 days after the day on which the board of canvassers certifies the vote.

Can a recount be requested?
- Yes, the recount can be requested within three days of the canvass. The margin required is less than or equal to 0.25% of the total votes cast in the race or a difference of one vote if the total votes cast is less than or equal to 400. The recount must be completed no later than seven days after the request.

Who pays for a requested recount?
- Varies. The state pays for recounts for any statewide race or multi-county race. For other races, political subdivisions are responsible for costs. The requester pays in recounts of ballot measures.

Is a refund available for requested recount costs?
- No.

Can a partial recount be requested?
- No.

Candidates and election results

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Utah District 2

Incumbent Celeste Maloy defeated Colby Jenkins in the Republican primary for U.S. House Utah District 2 on June 25, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Celeste Maloy	50.1	53,748
	Colby Jenkins	49.9	53,534

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 107,282
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Ty Jensen (R)

Voting information

See also: Voting in Utah

Election information in Utah: June 25, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

In-person: June 25, 2024
By mail: Received by June 14, 2024
Online: June 14, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: N/A
By mail: N/A by N/A
Online: N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: June 25, 2024
By mail: Postmarked by June 24, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

N/A

What were the early voting start and end dates?

June 11, 2024 to June 21, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (MST)

Candidate comparison

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Celeste Maloy

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: Yes

Political Office:

U.S. House Utah District 2 (Assumed office: 2023)

Biography: Maloy earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Southern Utah University in 2003 and a J.D. from Brigham Young University in 2015. She worked as a soil conservationist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture before earning her law degree. She also worked as an attorney in local governments and as the chief legal counsel for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Maloy said that the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S.-Mexico border was a crisis. She said she would “fight to secure our border, finish the wall, fully fund our border patrol, and keep dangerous drugs like fentanyl out of our communities.”

Maloy said Utah citizens should have more control over their resources and economic opportunities in comparison to the federal government. She said she would fight to increase Utah citizens’ control over their land and resources and limit “federal spending and regulations that are driving up our cost of living.”

Maloy said she values freedom of religion and that she would support individuals’ “right to worship and practice their faith as they see fit.” She also cited her religious beliefs as reinforcing her support of pro-life values.

Show sources

Sources: Celeste Maloy 2024 campaign website, "Issues," accessed May 17, 2024; Celeste Maloy 2024 campaign website, "Meet Celeste," accessed May 17, 2024; LinkedIn, "Celeste Maloy," accessed May 17, 2024

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Utah District 2 in 2024.

Colby Jenkins

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Biography: Jenkins graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point as an infantry lieutenant. He served as a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces in Afghanistan and Colombia. He worked as a counter-terrorism policy advisor to the Secretary of Defense and a senior legislative advisor in the Pentagon. As of the 2024 election, he worked in telecommunications and served in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Jenkins said that the primary job of the federal government is national security. He said, “Securing our borders is vital for national strength and security.” Highlighting his time in the military, Jenkins said he would “ensure our national security policy, funding, tools, authorities, and leadership are worthy of those who serve in our defense.”

Jenkins said he supports the Second Amendment and that “we the people are the ultimate check on the federal government.” He said he would oppose legislation that “remove guns from law-abiding citizens while criminals remain armed.”

Jenkins said he supports a limited federal government. Highlighting this belief, he said he would reduce federal spending, decrease taxes, and “advocate for the autonomy of states in regulating abortion.”

Show sources

Sources: Colby Jenkins campaign website, "Issues," accessed May 17, 2024; Colby Jenkins campaign website, "About," accessed May 17, 2024

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Utah District 2 in 2024.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign advertisements

This section includes a selection of up to three campaign advertisements per candidate released in this race, as well as links to candidates' YouTube, Vimeo, and/or Facebook video pages. If you are aware of other links that should be included, please email us.

Celeste Maloy

May 14, 2014

April 29, 2024

View more ads here:

Colby Jenkins

May 13, 2024

April 8, 2024

April 5, 2024

View more ads here:

Endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

Click the links below to see official endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites for any candidates that make that information available. If you are aware of a website that should be included, please email us.

Election competitiveness

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[28]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[29]^[30]^[31]

Race ratings: Utah's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 5, 2024	October 29, 2024	October 22, 2024	October 15, 2024
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Election spending

Campaign finance

Name

Party

Receipts*

Disbursements**

Cash on hand

Date

Celeste Maloy

Republican Party

$1,922,684

$1,815,663

$107,021

As of December 31, 2024

Colby Jenkins

Republican Party

$507,884

$507,882

$2

As of December 31, 2024

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

Satellite spending

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.^[32]^[33]^[34]

If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.

By candidate	By election
Celeste Maloy Colby Jenkins	Open Secrets Federal Election Commission

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

District map

Competitiveness
Presidential elections

State party control

Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Utah.

Utah U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
2024	4	4	1	13	8	0	3	37.5%	2	66.7%
2022	4	4	0	13	8	0	4	50.0%	4	100.0%
2020	4	4	1	15	8	1	2	37.5%	0	0.0%
2018	4	4	0	10	8	1	1	25.0%	1	25.0%
2016	4	4	0	10	8	0	2	25.0%	2	50.0%
2014	4	4	1	17	8	2	4	75.0%	3	100.0%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Utah in 2024. Information below was calculated on May 26, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Thirteen candidates ran for Utah’s four U.S. House districts, including three Democrats and 10 Republicans. That’s 3.25 candidates per district. There were 3.25 candidates per district in 2022, 3.75 candidates per district in 2020, and 2.5 in 2018.

The 3rd Congressional District was the only open district in Utah in 2024, tying with 2020 and 2014 for the most this decade.

Incumbent John Curtis (R-03) did not run for re-election because he ran for the U.S. Senate.

Six candidates—one Democrat and five Republicans—ran for the open 3rd Congressional District, the most candidates who ran for a seat in Utah in 2024.

Three primaries—all Republican—were contested in 2024. Four primaries were contested in 2022, three primaries were contested in 2020, and two were in 2018.

Two incumbents—Blake Moore (R-01) and Celeste Maloy (R-02)—were in contested primaries in Utah in 2024. That’s less than the four incumbents in contested primaries in 2022 but more than the zero incumbents in contested primaries in 2020.

The 2nd Congressional District was guaranteed to Republicans because no Democrats appeared on the ballot. Republicans filed to run in every congressional district, meaning none were guaranteed to Democrats.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+11. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 11 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Utah's 2nd the 128th most Republican district nationally.^[35]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in Utah's 2nd based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden	Donald Trump
39.5%	56.7%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.^[36] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline	Republican Baseline	Difference
33.2	59.2	R+26.0

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Utah, 2020

Utah presidential election results (1900-2020)

7 Democratic wins
24 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
Winning Party	R	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

See also: Party control of Utah state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Utah's congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Utah
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	0	0	0
Republican	2	4	6
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	4	6

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Utah's top three state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in Utah, May 2024
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Spencer Cox
Lieutenant Governor	Deidre Henderson
Attorney General	Sean D. Reyes

State legislature

Utah State Senate

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	6
	Republican Party	23
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		29

Utah House of Representatives

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	14
	Republican Party	60
	Other	0
	Vacancies	1
Total		75

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

Utah Party Control: 1992-2024
No Democratic trifectas • Thirty-three years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Election context

Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Utah in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Utah, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Utah	U.S. House	Ballot-qualified party	7,000	$485.00	1/8/2024	Source
Utah	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	5% of registered voters in the district, or 300, whichever is less	$485.00	6/18/2024	Source

District election history

2023

See also: Utah's 2nd Congressional District special election, 2023

General election

Special general election for U.S. House Utah District 2

The following candidates ran in the special general election for U.S. House Utah District 2 on November 21, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Celeste Maloy (R)	56.8	89,866
		Kathleen Riebe (D)	33.5	52,949
		Brad Green (L)	2.9	4,528
		Cassie Easley (Constitution Party)	2.3	3,678
		January Walker (United Utah Party)	1.8	2,856
	Submit photo	Perry Myers (Independent)	1.4	2,276
		Joseph Geddes Buchman (Independent)	0.8	1,281
	Submit photo	Jonathan La Rele Peterson (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	2
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	688

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 158,124
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Kathleen Riebe advanced from the special Democratic primary for U.S. House Utah District 2.