Ben McAdams and elections

McAdams claiming victory

In 2018, Ben McAdams was elected to serve Utah's 4th District in the 116th congress. Here is what happened leading up to this freshman congressman winning the heavily Republican district.

Nomination

No Democratic Primary was held for this election. At the Utah Democratic Convention, 72% of party delegates voted for him to be the nominee. Only 60% was needed to skip the primary process. He was criticized by some as not being progressive enough, but ultimately this had little effect on his support.

General Election vs Mia Love

McAdams ran against 2 time incumbent and former Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love. Love had won the 2016 election by a comfortable 12% margin. In what had been expected to be a close race, the two did not disappoint. The final results showed McAdams up 134,964 votes to 134, 270. This 694 vote margin was by .257%, just a few votes above the .25% threshold to trigger an automatic recount. Love spent about $5.4 million, while McAdams $3.2 million. National partisan groups spent about a million each in support of their candidate.

Future

Ben McAdams will almost certainly run to defend his seat in 2020, and there is little chance he will have a challenge for the nomination. Republicans have have already announced intentions to put the heat on him, and he has been seeking advice from former red state Democratic Congressmen. McAdams strategy so far has been to hold town halls, but the district being labeled a tossup again for 2020 means he will have his work cut out for him.

Issues

Ben McAdams held true to his campaign promise to not vote Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House. He supported no congressional pay until a budget was passed, and has promised to be a bipartisan representative. One motto his campaign had was "people over party". He also joined the Blue Dog Coalition, speaking out against abortion and military cuts.  At a recent town hall, he signaled willingness to compromise on border security with Republicans.

Finance

McAdams ended his 2018 campaign with $78,000 on hand, and most likely used this to give bonuses to workers and pay off remaining debts. About 20% of his 3.2 million dollar campaign was from small donations, 67% from large individual donations, and 13% from PAC money. His major contributes were real estate company Kc Gardner, employees from his Alma mater the University of Utah, and the pro-Democrat AmeriPAC.