The Winner

If you live in Utah’s new 1st Congressional District, Democrat Ben McAdams) will be your representative in Congress, flipping the seat from Republican to Democratic control. The Associated Press called the race for McAdams at 10:26 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and Republican Riley Owen conceded, KUER reported. ​

McAdams had 71.6% of the vote to Owen’s 25.0%, with 602 of 647 precincts reporting, according to Salt Lake County’s unofficial results. Libertarian Jesse West took 2.1%, and unaffiliated candidate Elias Henry Montgomery took 1.3%. McAdams will be the first Democrat to represent Utah in Congress since 2021, Axios reported.

The Race

The seat was open. Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT), who represented the 1st District under the old lines, ran in the new 2nd District instead, Ballotpedia News reported. A court-ordered map adopted last November put most of Salt Lake County in one left-leaning district, Axios reported.

Cook Political Report and Inside Elections rated the race Solid Democratic, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Democratic, according to Ballotpedia’s race page. McAdams represented Utah’s old 4th District from 2019 to 2021 and earlier served as Salt Lake County mayor, and he won the June 23 Democratic primary over three rivals. Owen, a Naval Reserve officer and former staffer in the first Trump White House, won the Republican nomination outright at the party’s April convention.

About 846,000 people live in the district, where the typical household earns about $93,000 a year and the median age is about 32. About 38% of adults hold at least a bachelor’s degree, the unemployment rate is about 3%, and about 9% of residents live below the poverty line.

What’s Next

McAdams will be sworn in Jan. 3, 2027, and Utah’s results aren’t final until county and state canvasses finish in about two weeks, Utah News Dispatch reported. He told ABC4 his focus will be bringing down housing, health care and everyday costs, and protecting the Great Salt Lake.

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