ST. GEORGE — As the preliminary results of the municipal and Republican congressional special election come in from across Iron and Washington counties and the state overall, races with a wide range of candidates will be whittled down to the final few who will face each other on the November ballot.
For the special election set to replace outgoing Republican Congressman Chris Stewart, the primary will choose a one of three candidates to move ahead.
The primary election, which is typically held in August, was pushed back to accommodate Stewart leaving office in mid-September. He announced earlier this year he would step down as the representative for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District due to matters related to his wife’s health. His final day is Sept. 15.
Stewart has since endorsed Celeste Maloy, a former member of his legal staff and former vice chair of the Washington County Republican Party, to take his place. She faces former state lawmaker and senatorial candidate Becky Edwards and Bruce Hough, a former member of the Republican National Committee.
Initial results from Utah.gov place Becky Edwards in the lead after the polls closed at 8 p.m. with over 50% of the vote.
Edwards’ lead was gradually chipped away by Maloy and Hough until flipping around with around 10 p.m. with Maloy in a the lead. Maloy has steadily gained ground since the flip.
Maloy’s lead continued to widen Wednesday as results from outstanding ballots that had yet to be counted began to be reported to the state.
However, the Washington County Clerk/Auditor posted to the county’s website Wednesday that nearly 12,800 outstanding ballots had yet to be processed in the county, and that the results would not be posted until sometime Thursday.
On the municipal level, St. George saw the highest turnout of candidates initially with 18 candidates vying for three City Council seats moving into the primary. That number has since dropped to 14 with two candidates withdrawing early on and another two getting disqualified for not filing campaign finance records.
The general election is set for Nov. 21.
The preliminary election results will be posted below as they come in.
Ed. note: The unofficial results for the congressional race have been updated as up 5:35 p.m., Sept. 6, 2023.
Special primary election to select the Republican candidate for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District
State results
State results
| Celeste Maloy | 38.31% | 29335 |
| Becky Edwards | 35.14% | 26904 |
| Bruce Hough | 26.55% | 20332 |
Iron County results
| Celeste Maloy | 51.94% | 2,886 |
| Bruce Hough | 28.06% | 1,559 |
| Becky Edwards | 20% | 1,111 |
Washington County results
| CELESTE MALOY | 8,286 | (44.3%) |
| BECKY EDWARDS | 4,079 | (21.81%) |
| BRUCE R HOUGH | 6,339 | (33.89%) |
Iron County
Cedar City – Three Council seats open
| W. Tyler Melling | 20.76% | 1,919 |
| Robert S. Cox | 18.56% | 1,715 |
| Carter Wilkey | 14.72% | 1,360 |
| Brittany Fisher | 13.85% | 1,280 |
| Mark Mumford | 13.47% | 1,245 |
| Kathy Long | 10.76% | 994 |
| Sara Ridgel, | 7.89% | 729 |
Parowan City – Three Council seats open
| John Dean | 15.14% | 328 |
| Jim Shurtleff | 15.00% | 325 |
| David M. Burton | 14.08% | 305 |
| Matthew Gale | 11.87% | 257 |
| Jessica Smith | 11.82% | 256 |
| David M. Harris | 11.36% | 246 |
| Vickie L. Hicks | 6.74% | 146 |
| Larraine Evans Clayton | 5.45% | 118 |
| Ronald V. Clayton | 4.80% | 104 |
| Debra Slotboom | 3.74% | 81 |
Washington County
Apple Valley – Mayoral
| MICHAEL LEE FARRAR | 112 | (77.24%) |
| WALTER EARL JOSEY | 33 | (22.76%) |
Apple Valley Town Council
| JANET PRENTICE | 92 | (33.33%) |
| BARRATT ERIC NIELSON | 79 | (28.62%) |
| MARGARET OSOSKI | 44 | (15.94%) |
| DAVID LANE | 35 | (12.68%) |
| RAYMOND LESTER JESSOP | 26 | (9.42%) |
Hurricane City – Three Council seats open
| JOSEPH PRETE | 903 | 13.81% |
| DREW ELLERMAN | 695 | 10.63% |
| LUCILLE L. DOUROUX | 371 | 5.67% |
| TERI HUMPHRIES | 581 | 8.89% |
| STEPHEN LEMMON | 813 | 12.43% |
| AMY C. WERRETT | 893 | 13.66% |
| CLARK R FAWCETT | 1031 | 15.77% |
| TRAVIS R. CHRISTIANSEN | 463 | 7.08% |
| DAVID L. SANDERS | 788 | 12.05% |
Ivins City – Three Council seats open
| CHEYNE C MCDONALD | 848 | (15.23%) |
| SUSAN LYNNE ERTEL | 215 | (3.86%) |
| SHARON GILLESPIE | 1199 | (21.54%) |
| PAUL BRYSON | 342 | (6.14%) |
| JAMES BARDEN | 252 | (4.53%) |
| SHARON BARTON | 1105 | (19.85%) |
| KEVIN M. SMITH | 875 | (15.72%) |
| JENNY JOHNSON | 731 | (13.13%) |
LaVerkin – Three Council seats open
| DARREN L. PRINCE | 226 | (21.1%) |
| RICHARD M. HIRSCHI | 150 | (14.01%) |
| MICAH T. GUBLER | 236 | (22.04%) |
| JUSTIN GIFFORD | 132 | (12.32%) |
| JOHN VALENTI | 107 | (9.99%) |
| CODY L. BARNES | 123 | (11.48%) |
| RANDY S JAQUES | 97 | (9.06%) |
St. George – Three Council seats open
| GREGG MCARTHUR | 3,043 | (9.23%) |
| AROS MACKEY | 2,158 | (6.55%) |
| JIMMIE B. HUGHES | 3,601 | (10.93%) |
| MATTHEW L HEATON | 1,764 | (5.35%) |
| AUSTIN HODGES | 659 | (2%) |
| KATHERYNE KNIGHT | 1,083 | (3.29%) |
| STEVE KEMP | 3,370 | (10.23%) |
| DANNIELLE LARKIN | 4,063 | (12.33%) |
| KIMBALL WILLARD | 567 | (1.72%) |
| GREG ALDRED | 2,132 | (6.47%) |
| WENDI PRINCE BULKLEY | 2,500 | (7.59%) |
| BRAD BENNETT | 3,048 | (9.25%) |
| PAULA SMITH | 3,092 | (9.38%) |
| STEVEN G JENNINGS | 1877 | (5.7%) |
Virgin – Two Council seats open
| APRIL MCKEON | 83 | 24.56% |
| MARCI HOLM | 56 | 16.57% |
| VALERIE WENZ | 66 | 19.53% |
| GENE GARATE | 66 | 19.53% |
| CAMERON SPENDLOVE | 67 | 19.82% |
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