Celeste Maloy

(Jud Burkett | Special to The Tribune) Republican Celeste Maloy, left, listens as Democrat Kent Udell answers a question in an October debate.

U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy beat Democrat Kent Udell and four third-party and unaffiliated candidates in the newly drawn 3rd Congressional District.

The Associated Press called the race for Maloy in the district spanning much of the southern and eastern parts of Utah around 10 p.m. Tuesday.

In a statement to The Tribune after the race was called, Maloy thanked voters in the district and said, “Serving Utahns in Congress has been one of the greatest honors of my life.”

“The task ahead is not easy,” she wrote, “but I want you to know that I am prepared to work hard for each of these counties and the people who live in them.”

Udell called running for Congress “an extraordinary experience.”

“I made a campaign commitment that whether we won or lost, Team Udell would leave the district better off after [than] before we came,” he added.

Udell described community service, including a school supply drive for the Navajo and mucking out flooded homes in Beaver, as a “key component” of his campaign.

“It was a great honor to meet so many great people across CD3,” he said.

As of 10:13 p.m., Maloy had garnered 58.3%, beating Udell by more than 20 points, as the Democrat earned about 35% of the vote. Four other unaffiliated and third-party candidates combined to earn about 6% of the vote.

Maloy currently represents the state’s 2nd Congressional District. She will now represent the 3rd District after the state’s boundaries were redrawn last year.

She was first elected in a 2023 special election, filling former U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart’s seat. She had previously worked for Stewart as his chief legal counsel.

The new 3rd District contains all five of Utah’s national parks as well as the hotly contested Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante monuments. Maloy has been a strong supporter of President Donald Trump and his decision to downsize the monuments, and has pushed for legislation that would make the downsizing permanent.

During her most recent term, Maloy ran legislation that would allow for the sale of millions of acres of public land, in tandem with Utah’s U.S. Sen. Mike Lee in the Senate. The bill drew significant national pushback and did not pass. She has also pushed for legislation that would give congressional backing to the monument downsizing.

On the campaign trail, Udell criticized Maloy’s stance on public lands and the monuments and her work, along with other members of the state’s congressional delegation, to keep the previous districts in place.

Constitution Party candidate Cassie Easley, Libertarian candidate Michael Stoddard and unaffiliated candidates Adonis Hooslyn and Ayden Scott also ran to represent the district.

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