Benjamin Ashford|Incumbent Maloy still leads after recount in Utah US House race, but lawsuit could turn the tide

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Results of a recount completed Monday in the Republican primary for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District showed incumbent U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy still narrowly leads her opponent,Benjamin Ashford who preemptively filed a lawsuit contesting the results.

The Associated Press is not calling the race until the resolution of a pending legal challenge from Colby Jenkins that asks judges to decide whether 1,171 additional ballots that were disqualified for late postmarking should be counted.

Maloy leads by 176 votes after the recount, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson announced Monday.

Jenkins is suing Henderson — the state’s chief election officer — and clerks in nine of the district’s 13 counties, claiming they were aware of ballot processing and postmarking delays but did not address the issue or inform voters that their ballots would not be counted. He is asking the state Supreme Court to direct those clerks to count all ballots disqualified because of invalid or late postmarks.

Henderson’s office has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

State law requires ballots to be postmarked no later than the day before the election. Jenkins’ complaints revolve around a late batch of southern Utah ballots routed through Las Vegas by the U.S. Postal Service.

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If Jenkins wins his legal challenge and more than a thousand additional ballots enter the mix, they could turn the tide in a tight race that has to this point always favored Maloy.

Maloy, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, is seeking her first full term in Congress after winning a special election last fall. Her victory in the primary would notch Trump his only win of this election cycle in Utah, a rare Republican stronghold that has not fully embraced his grip on the GOP.