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SALT LAKE CITY — Mike Kennedy, a Utah senator vying for the wide open 3rd District U.S. House seat, has won in his five-candidate primary contest, AP projected.
In a tweet, the candidate, a physician from Alpine, thanked his family, friends and supporters. Rep. John Curtis now holds the seat, but he vied for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Mitt Romney, winning the GOP primary for that post.
"Your faith in our vision for Utah and restoring America is what brought us here tonight," Kennedy said.
U.S. Rep. Blake Moore, meantime, handily won the Republican primary in the race for the 1st District U.S. House seat, Associated Press announced, less than a half hour after polls closed.
U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy was narrowly leading GOP challenger Colby Jenkins in primary balloting in the 2nd District race, according to early results, with more votes yet to come in. In an address to supporters Tuesday evening at an event in West Valley City, she expressed a measure of optimism.
"In the last 12 months plus one day, I've run in a convention, a primary, a general convention and another primary — and that's almost inhuman. So, I'm excited that I'm still standing, that I'm still capable of putting sentences together and that I'm still smiling," Maloy told the Deseret News.
Jenkins didn't immediately respond to a query seeking comment.
Moore, seeking his third term, faced a challenge in the primary from Paul Miller but jumped out to a decisive lead with preliminary ballots from the eight counties of the district counted. Moore had 56,837 votes to 21,380 for Miller, a 72.7%-27.3% split.
Maloy, tabbed to the 2nd District post in a special election last year and seeking her first full term, led Jenkins by a narrower margin — 40,932 to 37,890 votes — a 51.9% to 48.1% split. The initial ballots from 12 of 13 counties in the district had been counted.
In the 3rd District race, Kennedy led the field of five with 24,402 votes, or 36% of the total, followed by Case Lawrence, a businessman, with 15,402 votes, 22.8%, enough of a gap for AP to declare Kennedy the victor. Next came J.R. Bird, the Roosevelt mayor, who had 11,600 votes, 17.1%; Stewart Peay, 9,952 votes, 14.7%; and John Dougall, 6,357 votes, 9.4%.
Polls closed at 8 p.m. and results from Tuesday's Republican primary balloting quickly started coming in. Mail-in ballots and some votes cast in person on Tuesday, though, may not be counted until Wednesday or Thursday
The incumbent in the 4th District post, Rep. Burgess Owens, is the sole GOP hopeful, thus he's not on Tuesday's ballot and is already assured a spot on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.
In the 1st District contest, Moore, after his primary win, will go against Democrat Bill Campbell and Libertarian Daniel Cottam in the November general election. Moore's campaign didn't immediately respond to a query seeking comment.
In the 3rd District, Kennedy will face Democrat Glenn Wright in November's balloting.
"We have enough divisive headline-grabbers in Washington," Kennedy said in his tweet. "I'm a healer. For over 25 years, I've served our state as a family doctor, helping heal thousands. And I believe that by working together, we can heal a broken Washington."
He touted a number of issues as the campaign heads to November.
"We remain committed to securing our border and keeping our families safe, tackling inflation, reining in Washington and protecting our freedoms. Most importantly, we remain focused on ensuring that every part of our diverse district has a voice," Kennedy said.
The 2nd District race took a twist with the contrasting endorsements each candidate has received. Maloy has the backing of former President Donald Trump while Jenkins, a military veteran who now works in a telecommunications company and serves as colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, has the support of U.S. Sen. Mike Lee.
The Republican winner in the 2nd District race will face Democrat Nathaniel Woodward, Cassie Easley of the Constitution Party and Tyler Murset, politically unaffiliated.
In the 4th District race, Owens will face Democrat Katrina Fallick-Wang and Vaughn Cook of the United Utah Party.
Republicans hold all four of Utah's U.S. House seats and the state leans Republican.
Contributing: Gitanjali Poonia
