SALT LAKE CITY – Common recount underway, the closely trailing Republican candidate for Utah’s 2nd U.S. House District seat is challenging the primary election results in the state Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to recover enough disqualified ballots to overtake his opponent.
Colby Jenkins was trailing U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy by 214 votes, or 0.2 percentage points, when counties certified their results last month, putting the race within recount territory, which in Utah is when the vote difference for each candidate is equal to or less than 0.25% of the total number of votes cast. Jenkins formally requested the recount on Monday, but followed it on Tuesday night with a lawsuit challenging the certification of the results of 1,171 ballots that were disqualified for late postmarking.
The Utah Supreme Court quickly rejected his motion for failing to explain why the Supreme Court, rather than a district court, should take up the case. He was allowed to refuel and did so on Wednesday.
Jenkins is suing Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, the state’s top election official, and officials in nine of the district’s 13 counties, alleging they were aware of delays in ballot processing and postmarking but failed to address the problem or inform voters that their ballots would not be counted. He is asking the court to direct these clerks to count all ballots disqualified due to invalid or late postmarks.
Henderson’s office declined to comment on the lawsuit.
State law requires ballots to be postmarked no later than the day before the election. Jenkins’ complaints center around a delayed batch of absentee ballots in southern Utah routed through Las Vegas by the U.S. Postal Service.
Even before votes were cast in his race, Jenkins joined many national Republicans in expressing skepticism about the transparency of U.S. elections. In a debate in June, he avoided answering whether he would vote to certify the results if former President Donald Trump lost in November, and said he had serious concerns about the last presidential race in which President Joe Biden won.
Jenkins hopes his legal challenge will help him achieve an election victory. But even if that doesn’t happen, he told the Associated Press that he is committed to fighting for the rights of all voters in his district.
“Every legal vote, every voice must be counted,” Jenkins said. “Hope remains. We keep fighting.”
Jenkins campaign volunteers have been spread across the state this week monitoring county election workers as they conduct the recount, which is expected to be completed next Tuesday. Henderson also invited interested members of the public to witness the process.
Maloy, who is seeking his first full term in Congress after win a special election last fall said he did not expect the recount to change the outcome. But if Jenkins wins his legal challenge and more than a thousand additional votes enter the mix, they could turn the tide in a tight race that has so far always favored Maloy.
“I remain strongly in favor of counting all legal votes,” Maloy said. “The decision to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court is something we anticipated and I trust the justices will give the issue the consideration it deserves.”
Jenkins, a retired U.S. Army officer and telecommunications expert, defeated Maloy earlier this year at the state Republican Party convention, which typically favors far-right candidates. He received delegate approval after winning the support of right-wing U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, but did not win by a wide enough margin to bypass the primary.
Since then, the congresswoman has taken advantage of Trump’s late support to maintain a slight advantage over her opponent, who spent much of the campaign trumpeting her loyalty to the former president.
His primary victory would mean Trump’s only victory this election cycle in Utah, a rare Republican stronghold that has not fully embraced its dominance over the Republican Party. A Jenkins victory would mean that all of Trump’s Utah picks would lose this year’s primary, dealing another blow to Trump’s reputation as a Republican kingmaker.
The 2nd District groups liberal Salt Lake City with conservative St. George and includes many rural western Utah towns situated between the two cities. The Republican primary winner is the favorite to beat Democratic candidate Nathaniel Woodward, a family law attorney, in November. The district has not been represented by a Democrat since 2013.
