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SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Celeste Maloy has won the 2nd District Congressional primary after maintaining a narrow lead over Republican challenger Colby Jenkins following the results of a recount.
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson announced the results on X Monday afternoon, saying Maloy had won. The final tally was updated on the state's website shortly after, showing Maloy with a 176-vote lead, 53,777 to 53,601.
Jenkins filed for a recount in the 2nd Congressional District Republican primary on July 29, after the statewide canvass had Maloy ahead by a mere 214 votes. Results from several counties were delayed until Monday following computer errors that caused some ballot counts to not be reflected.
Jenkins has also filed a petition with the state Supreme Court to challenge the certification of the election. The justices have yet to rule on the request.
"We are thankful for the tireless efforts of the clerks and their staff in conducting the recount," Jenkins said on X. "In every step of this process, we have advanced bit-by-bit and the votes we've gained in this recount are one more example of that. What was a race that was too-close-to-call is now even closer. We eagerly await a decision from the Utah Supreme Court to ensure that every legal vote is counted, and every voice is heard."
Maloy also thanked the county clerks and their staffs, saying the recount "process has been thorough, transparent, and their remarkable accuracy should inspire confidence in our election system."
"I recognize that there is ongoing litigation and I am eager to get a decision from the courts," she said. "We will continue to monitor the situation closely. Meanwhile, I will continue to focus on advancing a conservative agenda for the people of Utah's 2nd District."
The results after the recount exactly mirrored the results reported during the statewide canvass in several counties: Beaver, Garfield, Juab, Kane, Millard, Piute and Wayne. The biggest discrepancies after the recount were recorded in Tooele and Washington counties, where Jenkins picked up 37 and 26 votes, respectively, and Maloy gained 18 and 10.
Jenkins added two extra votes in Salt Lake County and one additional vote in Davis and Iron counties. Maloy lost three votes in Salt Lake County and lost another vote in both Davis and Sevier counties.
Maloy will face Democrat Nathaniel Woodward, a family law attorney from Price, in the general election on Nov. 5.
The Associated Press has not called the race for Maloy, pending the legal challenge from Jenkins in which he asks the state's top court to allow for the counting of 1,171 ballots that were disqualified because they were postmarked late.
Henderson issued a statement on Monday addressing the issue with Election Systems and Software's ElectionWare software, which caused issues with the vote count in Tooele and Washington counties. She said the error was a software malfunction, not human error.
"I am concerned about the software error that occurred but glad that we were able to react quickly to understand its scope and impact and get it fixed in the recount. We will be investigating this further to ensure it never happens again," the lieutenant governor said.
