Republican wins special House election as Utah voters fill last vacant seat in Congress 

Republican Celeste Maloy won the special election Tuesday night to succeed her recently retired boss Rep. Chris Stewart as Utah voters filled the last vacant seat in the House of Representatives ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

“Thank you Utah!!” Maloy tweeted on X shortly after the Associated Press projected she had beaten Democratic state Sen. Kathleen Riebe.

The race pitted Maloy, an unabashed supporter of former President Donald Trump, against Riebe, the Utah state Senate’s No. 2 Democrat and a self-described moderate who had vowed to be more fiscally conservative than the liberal wing of her party.

Maloy served as Stewart’s chief legal counsel and now succeeds him in Utah’s second House district after he retired in September to spend more time with his wife, who is suffering from illness.

“I know Congress is a bit of a mess right now, and I feel like I can go and be helpful, and be a good solid member who is even keeled and low drama,” Maloy said after winning, according to AP.

Accolades poured in from across the political landscape.

“Congratulations to @CelesteMaloyUT on a hard-fought and well-deserved victory tonight in Utah's Second District! @HouseGOP is lucky to have a fighter like you in Washington, working tirelessly to secure a future that our kids can be proud of,” Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, wrote on X.