Democratic Freshman Representative Ben McAdams, Utah's 4th district

Full Biography- https://www.benmcadams.com/about/

Born December 5, 1974 (age 44) in West Bountiful, currently lives in in Salt Lake City.

Bachelors Degree in Political Science at the University of Utah, and Graduate of Colombia Law School.

Devout member of the Church of Latter-day Saints.

He and his wife Julie met at Colombia Law, and now have 4 children.

After graduating law school and brief work at a law firm in New York City, Ben McAdams returned to Utah to work in financial law at the Dorsey & Whitney firm in Salt Lake City.  He then worked as the Senior Advisor to Salt Lake Mayor Ralph Becker. He has also volunteered his time at the University of Utah College of Law as an adjunct professor. 


Political Career

In 2008, Ben was elected to a 4 year term in the Utah State Senate, representing the Second District covering Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake, and West Valley City. During this time he pressed for anti discrimination actions, increased schools ability to communicate with teachers, and easing taxes on Utahns.

His senate term was cut short in 2011, when he announced he would be running for the office of Mayor of Salt Lake City. With 54% of the vote, he resigned as senator and took over as Mayor. As mayor, he balanced the budget every year while improved funding for public safety, parks, arts and schools.

Ben took on the challenge of homelessness in Salt Lake City, posing in the streets as a homeless man to better understand the issue and seek solutions. He has connected public and private groups to fund and manage projects that work for cities while being economical. Salt Lake County had a AAA bond rating every year of his service.

In 2018, Ben ran against Republican Incumbent Mia Love for the 4th House District after an unopposed primary. After more than 11 million in spending by both sides, McAdams won the seat by 694 votes. 

During the first acts of voting, McAdams opposed Nancy Pelosi, voting Stephanie Murphy for Speaker of the House instead. 

Ben caucuses with the Blue Dog and the New Democrat coalitions. 


Committee Assignments

Committee on Financial Services

• Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions

• Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

• Subcommittee on Environment

• Subcommittee on Research and Technology

Endorsements and Interest Groups

League of Conservation Voters- https://www.lcv.org/article/lcv-action-fund-endorses-ben-mcadams-congress/
“Ben McAdams is committed to ensuring that every Utahn has clean air to breath and clean water to drink,” said LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld. “He has a proven record of standing up for Utah’s growing outdoor tourism industry and working to reduce pollution. We know he will be a strong ally in Congress, and we are proud to endorse his campaign.”

Sierra Club- https://utah.sierraclub.org/past-legislative-scorecards
McAdams has received a 100% rating by the Utah Sierra Club, an environmental group

Utah Taxpayers Association- https://votesmart.org/interest-group/275/rating/6188#.XGCkpzNKhPZ
Be has received a 82% from the fiscally conservative group

National Education Association - http://www.myuea.org/sites/utahedu/Uploads/files/Politics/2012VotingRecords.pdf
Ben received a 77% rating for his work to improve public schools


Bipartisanship 

Being from a red state, Ben knows how to work with republicans to achieve compromises. He supports the Children's Health Insurance Program championed by Utah Republican Orrin Hatch. He has expressed willingness to achieve a compromise on immigration reform. As mayor, he balanced the city budget with a republican dominated council. Ben also goes against democratic policy by being pro-life.


As a freshman senator, he has not had much opportunity to introduce bills or achieve leadership positions.

He is the one and only Democrat in Utah's delegation to the Capitol.