Ben McAdams Wins Utah's 1st Congressional District to Return to Congress

Ben McAdams Wins Utah’s 1st Congressional District to Return to Congress

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Ben McAdams won Utah’s 1st Congressional District with 72% of the vote to Republican Riley Owen’s 25%, a nearly 47-point margin that, as of 9 p.m. Tuesday, had already cemented the seat as a Democratic stronghold, Deseret News reported. The lone Democrat in Utah’s federal delegation will be the same as before: McAdams, returning to Washington six years after he lost his House reelection bid, and the first Utah Democrat sent to Congress since 2019.

The result brought a dramatic resolution to a redistricting saga that ended with a judge-ordered map carving a safely Democratic seat out of an otherwise Republican-leaning state. It also handed Utah Democrats their first federal voice in the Trump era — and gave Republicans a warning about how narrow their grip on the state’s other districts really is.

Ben McAdams Claims Victory in Utah's 1st Congressional District

McAdams returns on a court-drawn map

McAdams, 51, first won the seat in 2018 by defeating Republican Rep. Mia Love, then lost it two years later to Republican Rep. Burgess Owens by a single percentage point. Owens opted to retire rather than seek a fourth term, leaving the newly drawn district open. Two factors pulled McAdams back into the race, The Salt Lake Tribune reported: a 2025 court ruling that Utah’s congressional boundaries had been illegally gerrymandered to keep Republicans in power, and the affordability burden on Utah families.

Third District Judge Dianna Gibson ordered lawmakers to draw fair boundaries; after ruling they failed to do so, she chose a map submitted by the plaintiffs that created the new 1st District, spanning most of Salt Lake County and favoring Democrats by as many as 17 percentage points. “In the district you fought to create,” McAdams told supporters Tuesday night, “the people of Salt Lake County picked their own representative. This seat exists because you would not let it go.”

Speaking to a raucous room at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center, McAdams framed his mandate in opposition to President Donald Trump. “I know that a lot of you have spent the last 2 years angry,” he said. “Fear will tell you to lock the door and to keep your head down. Hope tells you to open it. The district tonight opened this door, and I promise you I won’t let that hope go to waste.”

His campaign messaging hammered affordability as a contrast to unpopular Trump policies. “Whoever you voted for, we felt the same thing this year,” he told the crowd, noting that rent, housing, gas prices, groceries and healthcare premiums were all “through the roof.” “Nobody explained why this was happening. You just got the bill, and somebody else got richer for it,” he said. “So starting on day one, every decision I make will come down to one question: Who will pay the price for this decision? And if the answer is you, I’m going to fight it.”

The 17-to-1 money gap — and a warning for the GOP

The race was never competitive on spending. According to Federal Election Commission data, McAdams raised more than $2.8 million over the primary and general election, while Owen raised $164,000 — leaving the 28-year-old GOP nominee outspent 17-to-1, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Indeed, the June primary proved McAdams’ toughest test, with attacks from state Sen. Nate Blouin, Democratic convention victor Liban Mohamed and others.

Owen, a Navy Reserve intelligence officer who runs a wildlife conservation foundation, conceded Tuesday night at a watch party a block away from the Democrats’ celebration. He called McAdams to congratulate him, and told supporters his campaign had “focused on issues, affordability, accountability, innovation” — a “road map for the future of the conservative movement.” He also said it had broken age barriers for Generation Z and laid out a blueprint for conservatism.

I’m ‘going to fight’ for Utahns, Ben McAdams vows, as Democrats win a seat in Congress
Photo: sltrib.com

McAdams’ landslide stood in sharp contrast to his Republican colleagues. Rep. Blake Moore led in the 2nd District by less than 6 points, Rep. Celeste Maloy led the 3rd by nearly 25, and Rep. Mike Kennedy led the 4th by around 13 — all in districts projected to favor Republicans by 35 to 45 points, Deseret News reported. The new delegation will navigate a divided government as a Democratic majority, which took control of both the U.S. House and Senate on Tuesday night, seeks to check the Trump administration.

For Utah Democrats, the win could signal redoubled investment in the state after the GOP Legislature also lost statewide ballot measures and key swing seats. Damon Cann, a political science researcher at Utah State University, told Deseret News the energy will “redound to the benefit of the party as a whole,” attracting more talented down-ballot candidates and flooding Democratic campaign firms with cash.

Ben McAdams celebrates win in Utah's 1st Congressional District

Cann noted that such a solidly Democratic seat creates the possibility that McAdams will apply his historically pragmatic approach to more progressive ends than he did in his first term, to appease a new set of voters.

As McAdams wrapped up his remarks, the crowd erupted into chants of “USA, USA, USA” and began jumping up and down as Democrats took the Senate. The 1st District vote, he said, showed that in the district they fought to create, the people of Salt Lake County picked their own representative. McAdams will take his seat when the new Congress convenes, joining a Democratic caucus now positioned to challenge the Trump administration on Capitol Hill.

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