Celeste Maloy wins special election for District 2
Celeste Maloy (R) has won Tuesday’s special election for Utah’s District 2 representative in the U.S. Congress. She beat out Sen. Kathleen Riebe (D), minority whip for the Utah Senate.
The Associated Press called the race for Maloy just before 8:40 p.m. Tuesday night. The vote counts at the time were 55% for Maloy and 37% percent for Riebe.
Maloy is replacing Chris Stewart, who resigned in September. She was previously Stewart’s chief legal counsel and had his endorsement in the race.
Only four women have represented Utah in the U.S. House before Maloy, with the most recent being Mia Love, who served from 2015-2019 and was also the state’s first Black congresswoman. Maloy is also the first woman to represent District 2 since 1997.
Head coach leaves U of U gymnastics team after months of controversy
The University of Utah announced that gymnastics head coach Tom Farden has left the program after months of controversy surrounding allegations of abuse and harassment towards athletes.
An investigation was commissioned by the university over the summer after allegations from former gymnasts of verbal and emotional abuse. It found he had made a derogatory comment to an athlete but cleared him of any wrongdoing.
After being placed on paid administrative leave last week, Farden’s departure was announced Tuesday evening by Utah Athletics Director Mark Harlan, who said it was a mutual decision between the school and Farden.
Longtime assistant Carly Dockendorf will serve as interim head coach for the team.
