One of the closest, and most expensive, congressional elections in Utah history apparently ended on Monday night as Democrat Ben McAdams declared victory over Republican Mia Love. As it stands, McAdams has a slim 739 vote margin over Love.
“We’ve been crunching the numbers, and based on the number of outstanding votes, there’s no way Rep. Love can retake the lead,” said McAdams during a hastily called press conference at his campaign headquarters on Monday night.
McAdams apparent victory is the 38th Republican-controlled House seat that Democrats flipped during the 2018 midterm elections.
Counties will certify their vote totals on Tuesday, and there may be more ballots left to count, but McAdams said they’re not sweating any more big swings.
“We’re confident that this number will be the outcome,” he said.
McAdams can thank Salt Lake County for his narrow victory over Love. He picked up 64% of the outstanding votes on Monday after Love posted a 1,500 vote lead earlier in the day due to updated vote totals from Utah County. McAdams now has a 0.28% lead over Love, which is currently more than the 0.25% threshold for a recount.
McAdams said he had not yet spoken to Rep. Love following the new numbers, opting to let her take whatever time she needs after a bitter race.
“I’d like to thank Rep. Love for her service to our state. I think it’s time now for us to put partisanship behind us and come together to support leaders and policies that will do what’s in the best interest of Utahns,” he said.
This year’s nailbiter is closer than two other recent elections where a Democrat narrowly picked up a win over a heavily-favored Republican. In 2012, Jim Matheson defeated Love by just 768 votes. In 2002, Matheson defeated Republican John Swallow by 1,600 votes, largely propelled by a 25,800 vote margin in Salt Lake County.
Republicans have to be disappointed to lose control of the 4th District this year. Love and outside Republican groups spent more than $8 million to try and keep control of the seat, only to lose by a little more than a quarter of a percentage point. FiveThirtyEight.com rates UT4 as 20% more Republican than the rest of the country.
If the results hold, Love will hold the dubious distinction of losing twice in election years when Republican Mitt Romney was at the top of the ballot. Romney easily cruised to victory in his U.S. Senate race earlier this month.
McAdams was one of 17 Democrats in the House to sign a letter opposing Nancy Pelosi’s election as Speaker of the House when the new Congress convenes in January. McAdams said he was standing by that pledge even though no challenger to Pelosi has emerged.
“It’s time for new leadership in Washington from both parties,” he said. “It’s a commitment I made to the voters of Utah and I will not be voting for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker.”
Despite his call for bipartisanship and coming together after the negative race, McAdams took a dig a Love when asked about his immediate plans now that the election is apparently over, announcing his intention to hold a town hall meeting. Love was repeatedly criticized by Democrats and McAdams for not holding public meetings with constituents during her time in office.
Love’s campaign said she was unavailable due to Thanksgiving holiday travel, but released a statement from her on Monday evening:
“I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the voters, who along with our family, have been waiting for two weeks to get election results. Thank you for your continued participation in this process.”
Listen to audio of McAdams’ press conference:
