Ben McAdams won Utah’s new congressional district, securing 71.9% of the vote according to unofficial results posted around 9:40 pm, Axios Salt Lake City reported.
That tally left his Republican opponent, Riley Owen—an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve—with 25.1% of the vote. McAdams also turned aside challenges from Libertarian Jesse West, unaffiliated candidate Elias Montgomery, and write-in candidate Bobby Darvish.
McAdams Blames Trump Impeachment Vote for Past Defeat
McAdams built his campaign around affordability while acknowledging a heavy political weight from his past. He repeatedly told voters that his 2019 vote to impeach President Trump cost him a second term in Washington. His return to Capitol Hill follows a years-long redistricting battle across Utah. A court-approved congressional map put in place by a Utah judge last November restructured the state’s four districts, incorporating a left-leaning one that takes in the majority of Salt Lake County.
"In the district that you fought to create, the people of Salt Lake County picked their own representative," McAdams told an energized crowd downtown.
Political science professor Damon Cann of Utah State University noted the structural shift in the electorate. “This district is heavily urbanized,” Cann told Axios. “That shift makes this district much more solidly Democratic than anything we’ve seen in Utah, maybe ever before.”
Coping With Past Fractures and New Expectations
The road back to federal office brought familiar friction for McAdams. During the race, he faced persistent questions about whether he could move past his moderate legislative history to embrace more progressive policy positions. Critics previously pointed to his decision to back anti-Trump independent Evan McMullin over fellow Democrat Kael Weston during the 2022 Senate race against incumbent GOP Senator Mike Lee.
McAdams’s career in public office spans multiple levels of Utah government. He first unseated incumbent U.S. Representative Mia Love in 2018, only to lose his reelection bid to retired NFL player Burgess Owens in 2020. His government experience prior to federal office includes serving as a state senator between 2009 and 2012, followed by a tenure as Salt Lake County mayor from 2013 to 2019.
With the new district established, attention turns immediately to how the former mayor will balance his centrist instincts with the demands of a heavily urban, increasingly progressive constituency. McAdams is scheduled to begin his term on January 3.
