There are 48 hours to go before the Republican nominee is chosen in the primary which is tantamount to an election to Congress in Utah's 2nd District.
But Republicans from the Beehive State to Washington, D.C., are beginning to wonder if a decidedly nonconservative candidate who actually voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and challenged GOP Sen. Mike Lee in 2022 will emerge on top in the race to succeed outgoing Rep. Chris Stewart, who is resigning to devote his time to his wife's health issues.
According to a Hinckley Poll completed a week ago, 32% of likely Republicans favor former state Rep. Becky Edwards — compared to 11% for Republican State Chair Bruce Hough and 9% for attorney Celeste Maloy.
The figures are stunning, to say the least, in that Edwards freely admitted she voted for Biden over former President Donald Trump and ran from the center-left against conservative Lee. She also compiled a solid environmental record and is a passionate believer in climate change.
EDF Action Votes, an affiliate of the Environmental Defense Action Fund, has $100,000 on polling, direct mail, and digital ads to support Edwards.
A lawyer and former counsel to Rep. Stewart, Maloy has the strong support of the outgoing congressman as well as the endorsement of the districtwide GOP convention. In a surprise move, the longtime favorite for nomination to Congress, former state House Speaker Greg Hughes, was outhustled on the convention floor by Maloy and did not make the primary ballot.
There is bad blood left from the convention primarily because Maloy had not voted in Utah since she moved to Washington in 2019 to join Stewart's staff.
Having not voted in the state in the 2020 and 2022 elections, Maloy was on the verge of being removed from Utah's voter rolls this year. Because she was technically not a registered Republican in the state, Hughes' supporters argued, Maloy should not have been permitted to be placed in nomination at the convention.
"But our lieutenant governor [Republican Deidre Henderson], whose office oversees election regulation, let the matter slide," veteran Utah Republican consultant Lew Moore told Newsmax. "And some people are still very upset about it."
Both Maloy and Hough are strongly pro-life and both support a pardon for Trump. Edwards is also pro-life but believes abortion is strictly a state issue after the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision last year.
Whoever wins the GOP primary Tuesday is considered a cinch to win the special election on Nov. 21.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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