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Following Stewart's resignation, Legislature could consider special session

Posted at 1:12 PM, Jun 05, 2023
and last updated 2023-06-05 19:16:35-04

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Legislature could consider a special session to update election laws following last week's surprise announcement that Rep. Chris Stewart would vacate his 2nd District Congressional seat.

Updating election laws could speed up the process in filling Stewart's seat in Congress.

Stewart has yet to give Governor Spencer Cox and an exact date on which he’ll leave office. Depending on when that decision is made, it may be tricky to schedule primaries and the general election.

"I don’t want to leave this seat open any longer than I have to," said Cox Monday. "That’s what’s driving this conversation is we want Utah to be represented, we want Utah’s 2nd District to be represented. So making that vacancy as short as possible is important to all of us.

"We are aligned in that. If we have to change the law to do that, we’re willing to call them into special session."

Dozens of candidates may jump into the race to replace Stewart, who said he is leaving office because his wife is dealing with unspecified health issues.