Newly sworn-in Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy already faces possible GOP 2024 challenger

Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT) was sworn in Tuesday night after winning a special election last week to fill former Utah Republican Rep. Chris Stewart’s seat, but a Republican challenger may already pose a threat to her position in 2024.

Maloy, a former aide to Stewart, defeated her Democratic challenger, state Sen. Kathleen Riebe, in Utah’s 2nd Congressional District and filled the House up to its full 435-member capacity for the first time since June. Her victory puts a woman in Utah’s congressional delegation for the first time since 2019, when former Republican Rep. Mia Love lost her reelection bid to former Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams.

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However, Maloy will only be in office for a short period of time until House candidates in Utah can start filing for the 2024 election cycle. One Republican has already launched an exploratory committee for Congress — Colby Jenkins.

(AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Jenkins, a combat veteran and U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret, filed papers with the Federal Election Commission in October. Filing paperwork with the FEC does not necessarily mean a person is running, but it allows one to raise money.

When asked about Jenkins as a possible 2024 challenger, Maloy told the Salt Lake Tribune she expected it.

“It’s politics. I knew there’d be somebody,” Maloy said. “I’m just going to keep working.”

Maloy, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, won a three-way Republican primary in September and faced a few challenges during her campaign.

Maloy’s Utah voter registration was marked inactive because she did not cast a ballot in 2020 and 2022, according to the local outlet. In an interview with KSL News Radio, she said the reason she had not voted was because she did not want her absentee ballot to be flagged as fraudulent, creating a problem for Stewart, whom she worked for.

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She updated her GOP voter registration a day after the special election filing deadline, and a federal judge ruled in July that Maloy could stay on the ballot.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Jenkins for comment.