Celeste Maloy

Celeste Maloy (born May 22, 1981) is an American attorney and Republican politician who is the U.S. representative for UT's 2nd congressional district. She previously served as chief legal counsel to U.S. Representative Chris Stewart and as the deputy county attorney for Washington County, Utah. Prior to her legal career, Maloy worked as a conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Early life and education
Maloy was born in Cedar City, Utah, and raised in Hiko, Nevada in a single-wide trailer with five siblings; her mother, Cathy (née Turner) sold Avon products, while her father, Edward Maloy, was a volunteer firefighter. She is the niece by marriage of Cliven Bundy and cousin of Ammon Bundy, known for their involvement in the 2014 Bundy standoff. Maloy later graduated from Pahranagat Valley High School in Alamo, Nevada. After graduating high school, Maloy attended Southern Utah University, where she earned her degree in agriculture. She earned a Juris Doctor from J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University in 2015.

Early career
Maloy worked for 11 years as a soil conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Utah.

After law school, Maloy worked in Washington County, Utah, as a deputy county attorney, specializing in issues of public land law involving land and water policy. She advocated on behalf of Utah landowners to the United States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. She has continued working with issues of land rights and ownership with the Utah Association of Counties and the Washington County Water Conservancy District. Her work as deputy county attorney in Washington County put her in frequent contact with U.S. Representative Chris Stewart, and in 2019, she was hired by Stewart as chief legal counsel for both his district and Washington, D.C. offices.

2023 special
In June 2023, she announced her candidacy for the special election for Utah's 2nd congressional district after Representative Stewart announced his resignation to care for his wife's health issues. Stewart publicly endorsed Maloy after reports that thirteen Republicans had filed for the contested primary election.

On June 24, 2023, Maloy won the Utah Republican nominating convention for the 2nd district in an upset. However, she still had to face a primary election, as two other candidates had gathered enough signatures to make the primary ballot. Maloy won the most votes in a September 6 primary, to win the Republican nomination over former state Representative Becky Edwards. Maloy faced state Senator Kathleen Riebe in the general election on November 21 and won by a comfortable margin. She was sworn in on November 28, 2023.

2024
Maloy faced multiple challengers in her first re-election bid, with the leading competitor being Colby Jenkins, a telecommunications businessman. Jenkins was able to defeat Maloy at convention with 56% but Utah requires any candidate with more than 40% of the cote to progress to a Primary. While the primary was held June 25, 2024, the race still has not been called as of July 5th, with the small margin likely to lead to a recount. The winner of the Primary will progress to a general election to face Democratic candidate Nathaniel Woodward, and Constitiutional party candidate Cassie Easley.

Committee assignments

 * Committee on Small Business
 * Subcommittee on Contracting and Infrastructure
 * Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Supply Chains
 * Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
 * Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management
 * Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
 * Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

Caucus memberships

 * Congressional Colorado River Caucus
 * Congressional FFA Caucus
 * Congressional Wildfire Caucus
 * Congressional Western Caucus

Personal life
Maloy and her family are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.