Rep. Celeste Maloy won re-election to a second full term in the U.S. House on Tuesday, Nov. 3, carrying Utah's 3rd Congressional District with 58% of the vote in initial returns.

The district, redrawn under a court-ordered redistricting last year, now includes Cottonwood Heights and Holladay. That makes Maloy the congressional representative for residents in both cities.

Maloy, a Republican, defeated first-time candidate Kent Udell, a Democrat, 58% to 35%, according to initial results reported by KSL. Several other candidates earned less than 10% of the vote. The Associated Press called the race at 10:03 p.m.

The 3rd District stretches across more than half the state, covering nearly all of southern and eastern Utah along with parts of the Wasatch Front and Wasatch Back. It is the state's largest congressional district by area.

New district, new constituents

The race marked a geographic shift for Maloy. She had been representing Utah's 2nd Congressional District but ran in the newly drawn 3rd after a court-imposed redistricting changed all three of the state's Republican-leaning congressional boundaries.

Speaking to supporters on election night in St. George, Maloy acknowledged the challenge, according to Utah News Dispatch.

"It's almost completely a new district for me. I've been representing 13 counties on the west side, and I'm only keeping six of those counties," Maloy said.

"So I had to show up and introduce myself to, you know, about 700,000 new people who had never met me before," she said.

Maloy was first elected to Congress in a 2023 special election to replace her former boss, former Rep. Chris Stewart, according to a pre-election Deseret News profile of the race. She is the only member of Utah's congressional delegation on the House Appropriations Committee.

What Maloy campaigned on

During the campaign, Maloy said she planned to use her Appropriations Committee seat to push for Utah priorities, including funding for the Great Salt Lake and reducing government spending, according to the Deseret News profile. She also promoted her support for extending tax cuts passed through the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill.

Maloy chairs the Congressional Western Caucus and has described herself as a problem-solver, according to Utah News Dispatch.

Udell, an engineer and academic making his first run for office, centered his campaign on cost-of-living concerns. He described himself as "independent-minded" and said his roots in the district would help him win over voters who typically back Republicans, according to the Deseret News profile. Udell resides in Castle Valley near Moab while owning a home in Salt Lake County.

The district was rated as solidly Republican, with at least a 20-point advantage for the GOP, according to the Cook Political Report, as cited by the Deseret News.

Maloy's win was the first of Utah's three Republican-leaning congressional races called on election night, according to Utah News Dispatch.