What to know about the candidates running for Utah's 3rd Congressional District
by Bridger Beal-Cvetko ksl · KSL.comKEY TAKEAWAYS
- Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, faces five challengers in Utah's 3rd Congressional District race.
- Democrat Kent Udell emphasizes transparency and accountability, challenging Maloy's political experience.
- Maloy leads in fundraising; district's GOP lean poses challenges for Udell's campaign.
SALT LAKE CITY — Running in a newly redrawn congressional district that spans nearly all of southern and eastern Utah and parts of the Wasatch Front and Wasatch Back, Rep. Celeste Maloy must fend off five challengers if she wants to win a second full term in Congress.
Chief among them is Democrat Kent Udell, an engineer and academic who is making his first foray into politics. Several other candidates are also vying for the seat: Constitution Party candidate Cassie Easley, Libertarian Michael Stoddard and unaffiliated candidates Adonis Hooslyn and Ayden Scott.
Maloy is pitching herself as a steady hand with several years of experience, while Udell hopes to shake things up with a message focused on transparency and accountability in Washington.
Here's what you should know about the two major party candidates.
Maloy leans on her experience
Maloy was first elected in a special election to replace her former boss, former Rep. Chris Stewart, in 2023, when she emerged from a crowded GOP field as a relative unknown. Now, she's an established figure in southern Utah politics who has seemed to improve her standing with base voters in each subsequent election cycle.
"Voters should choose me because I have a three-year track record," she told KSL. "You can look at the things I've done for Utah. I've been fighting for our rural areas. I've been working with our urban areas and focused on issues like water that are really important in the state. ... So, if Utahns look at what I have done for the last three years, I'm confident they will choose me."
The congresswoman is the only member of Utah's delegation to serve on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, and Maloy says she plans to use that role to push for Utah priorities like getting money for the Great Salt Lake and reducing government spending.
"It's going to take federal dollars and federal programming to help solve that problem," she said of the lake. "And I've been right in the middle of that."
With many Americans frustrated by the state of the economy, Maloy touts her support for extending tax cuts passed through last year's so-called One Big Beautiful Bill.
"I agree that Utahns should keep as much of their own money in their own pockets as possible," she said during a debate earlier this month. "That's why I voted for making the tax cuts permanent from 2017. It's why I voted to reduce taxes on tips, overtime, Social Security, to increase the child tax credit. All these things are good for Utah's families."
Who is Kent Udell?
Udell has made cost of living a key part of his campaign, while also leaning into his status as an outsider candidate.
"I follow the facts," he said. "I'm an engineer, and as engineers, we don't lie. If we lie, people die. And so I'm bringing that kind of an attitude forward to make sure that there's transparency and that I am faithfully following the Constitution and the rule of law and facts."
Maloy has a significant advantage in fundraising and advertising, and Udell acknowledges that he faces an uphill climb.
"Fine, that's the starting condition," he said of the race. "I think one of the strongest cases I have is that I get my funding from people, because I know who I'm going to be working for, and if I'm getting money from outside interests, then I would be working for them. ... Big money in politics is really hurting our country."
He said he wants to push for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. FEC, a landmark 2010 Supreme Court ruling that allowed corporations and other groups to spend unlimited money on elections.
Although he's a Democrat, Udell described himself as "independent-minded," and said he thinks his roots in the district — he resides "pretty much full-time" in Castle Valley near Moab while owning a home in Salt Lake County — will help him win over voters who typically back Republicans.
"If I could sit down with them and talk about what it is we love about the country, talk about what it is that their concerns are and to be authentic in my concern for what their future looks like ... I believe I can reach across that barrier," he said.
Does Udell have a chance?
Utah's 3rd Congressional District is considered to be a solid Republican district, with at least a 20-point advantage to the GOP, according to the Cook Political Report. And although the district lines have changed since Maloy was last elected in 2024, the district still contains many of the voters who have previously put her in office, something that gives her an advantage, according to Holly Richardson, co-host of KSL's "Inside Sources."
Even as Udell plays up his connections to the district, it might not win enough votes given that Maloy also has a strong background in southern Utah.
"She knows this area," Richardson said. "He's playing off of something that she's already done. So, yes, there definitely are people for whom it will matter that he says he's an outdoors guy ... but the numbers don't typically support a Democrat in that area. They just don't."
Maloy also has an advantage in fundraising and spending, which allows a candidate to get their message in front of voters. Udell has tried to paint his opponent as out of touch because of how much money she has raised, but money goes a long way in modern politics.
"It is always a message being used by challengers, but that is largely, I think, because they can't raise that kind of money because the (political action committees) are looking at them and saying, 'Look, you don't really have a chance to win in this race,'" Richardson said. "The reality is that's what makes it so you can win a race. It's not the only factor, but it's a really important factor."
Leah Murray, director of Weber State University's Walker Institute of Politics and Public Service, agreed.
"If I were Udell, I would just have to spend a ton of money," she said. "But it might not be worth it. I'm not sure the return on that investment would play out."
Election day is Nov. 3.
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The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.