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SALT LAKE CITY — It's not often that voters take to the polls following a three-day holiday weekend, but Tuesday is when Republicans in Utah's 2nd Congressional District will decide who will represent the party on the general election ballot.
Following Rep. Chris Stewart's surprising announcement earlier this year that he will step down on Sept. 15, the Utah Legislature voted to push back this year's municipal primary and general elections in order to accommodate the race to replace Stewart.
The general election was also pushed back by a couple of weeks, and will take place Nov. 21.
Although voters have already begun to return their vote-by-mail ballots, all three Republican candidates have a few remaining days to make their case for office and encourage voters to turn out.
The special primary election is only open to voters who live in the 2nd Congressional District. Per Utah Republican Party rules, only registered Republicans can vote in the special primary.
However, cities across Utah are holding primary elections of their own for city council and mayor positions. Click here to see if your city is participating.
Mail-in ballots were sent to all active registered voters who live in the district or a city with a primary election. Mailed ballots can be returned in the mail as long as they are postmarked no later than Tuesday, or they can be delivered to a secure drop box, the county clerk's office or any polling location in your county.
In-person polling locations open at 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 8 p.m. Residents who are not yet registered to vote can do so and vote in person on Sept. 5.
Who has the edge in GOP primary?
A recent Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll conducted from Aug. 7-14 found that 47% of Republican registered voters in the district were still undecided. While the poll showed former state lawmaker Becky Edwards with 32% support compared to national Republican committeeman Bruce Hough's 11% and GOP convention winner Celeste Maloy's 9%, the large number of undecided voters makes it hard to extrapolate election results based on the poll.
And although the poll was conducted only last month, a lot can change in the final weeks of any political campaign, especially one with a truncated timetable and relatively lesser-known candidates.
Edwards entered the race with the highest name recognition, after she challenged Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, in a Republican primary just last year. But Hough and Maloy each bring strong party ties to the race.
Hough is a former Utah Republican Party chairman who has attended Republican national conventions dating back to 1980, and has drawn on his business and entrepreneurial experience throughout the campaign.
Maloy won a surprise victory at the GOP convention earlier this year, proving she is no outsider. She earned endorsements from former Congressmen Rob Bishop and from Stewart, after serving as chief legal counsel to Stewart for the past several years.
A resident of Cedar City, Maloy has appealed to southern Utah Republicans who want a representative from outside of the Wasatch Front, and has staked her campaign on turning out enough voters from Washington County and rural areas.
Edwards, who lives in Davis County, could have an advantage there and in the more suburban areas of the district in Salt Lake County.
As of Friday morning, turnout for the race was at 24.1% of active voters, according to Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, who oversees the state's Elections Office. Davis County had the highest turnout with 32.7%, followed by Washington County, 21.8% and Iron County, 17.5%.
Hough and Edwards have the advantage when it comes to campaign finances, in part because they each loaned their campaigns at least $300,000.
Edwards has also received $378,975.94 from contributions and her campaign has spent nearly $450,000, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Hough has received $204,463.99 in donations and spent nearly $430,000 on campaign expenses.
Maloy has received $307,308.68 and spent more than $217,000.
State Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, who won the Democratic convention to advance to the general election, has ramped up her fundraising efforts and has received more than $94,000 in contributions. That's up from the nearly $3,000 she had raised as of the previous filing deadline in July.
Riebe has spent nearly $50,000 and launched her first video campaign ad earlier this week.
