Utah and Rhode Island voters will set out for the polls on Tuesday for special election primary voting.
Republicans in Utah’s 2nd Congressional District must select from a three-way race that will determine what weight an allegiance to former President Donald Trump holds in the conservative state. GOP voters in Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District face an uphill battle, as more than a dozen Democrats are in the running compared to two Republican contenders — the district hasn't been held by a Republican in three decades. Both are set to be competitive races in November’s general elections.
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Utah
Multiple candidates are vying to replace Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT), who announced his resignation in June, citing his wife’s health concerns as the reason behind his departure after five terms in the House.
Former congressional staffer Celeste Maloy won over the GOP’s convention nomination and received an endorsement from the congressman she hopes to replace.
“She is a strong conservative woman with Utah values and the one person in the race I know for certain is ready to serve on day one,” Stewart said of Maloy, who served as chief legal counsel in his office for multiple years.
Bruce Hough has served as a committeeman for the Republican National Committee for more than a decade. He entered the race as a self-described “movement conservative,” arguing his business background as co-founder of the nutritional supplements company Nutraceutical makes him the best candidate to bring fiscal accountability to Washington.
Former state Rep. Becky Edwards has served as a state representative on Utah’s Capitol Hill for over a decade. This race is not her first time running for a national seat — she lost the GOP primary election to incumbent Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) in 2022.
Trump carried the district in 2020 and 2016, and Malory and Hough have been openly critical of the indictments of the former president, defending House Republicans' efforts to investigate the Justice Department.
Hough has argued he is the best traditional conservative contender because of his support of Trump in both presidential elections, while Edwards voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 and supported the second impeachment of the former president.
Edwards is on the opposite side of the debate, campaigning as an anti-Trump option. She’s been openly encouraging women to vote against him, working with Women of Faith Speak Up and Speak Out, a religious group against Trump.
Nearly half of GOP voters, 47%, are still undecided, according to a Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll from last week. Edwards has the lead, with 32% of support, compared to Hough with 11% and Maloy at 9%.
Rhode Island
Nearly a dozen Democrats are hoping to be their party’s nominee, while Republicans have a slim chance of flipping the historically blue seat. The state has only voted for a Republican presidential nominee four times, and less than 15% of the population is a registered GOP voter.
Republican candidates — Terri Flynn, who served as a Middletown Town Council member, and Jamestown retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. Gerry Leonard — have stayed relatively quiet on the campaign trail.
The Rhode Island Republican Party has endorsed Leonard, who is running for political office for the first time. With over 30 years of experience in the U.S. Marine Corps, Leonard is running on the platform that "Bidenomics" is not working. He’s been hesitant to say whether or not he supports Trump’s run for reelection, telling NBC 10 WJAR, "I believe there's nobody that's above the law in the United States."
Flynn describes herself as a “citizen candidate” and believes the largest problem in the nation is the economy, arguing the tax code should be overhauled.
“Inflation has weakened the U.S. dollar, and its buying power has diminished,” Flynn told WPRI. “The U.S. government spending has caused significant inflation and resulted in the highest interest rates in 22 years. As a result, people are struggling.”
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Rhode Island has several prominent Democrats in the running, including Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, former state Rep. Aaron Regunberg, former White House aide Gabe Amo, and state Sen. Sandra Cano.
Regunberg is the front-runner, with 28% support, according to findings by Global Strategy Group, with Matos and Cano tied at 11%.