USA Today
On the morning after Election Day, President Donald Trump chided U.S. Rep. Mia Love for losing her re-election bid in reliably red Utah.
She hadn't lost — yet. That only became official on Tuesday.
The first black Republican woman elected to Congress in 2015, Love lost her bid for a third term by less than 700 votes against Salt County County Mayor Ben McAdams, adding to the Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives come January.
“This race was about connecting with Utah,” McAdams said while declaring victory on Monday night before the final results were posted by the state. “This race was about who was best positioned to serve Utah and working to not get it caught up in a national, partisan election.”
The race had remained too close to call for The Associated Press for two weeks. State election officials are scheduled to certify results on Monday.
In a statement on Tuesday, Love said she planned to call McAdams but didn’t indicate if she would concede or congratulate him. She said she’s traveling with family for Thanksgiving and won’t speak about the race until Monday.
“Regardless of how you voted, I want to express my sincere appreciation to you for engaging in the process,” Love said. “It is one of many reasons this is the greatest country on earth.”
Love was among House Republicans targeted in the hours after the midterms by Trump, who suggested their defeats were at least in part because of their refusal to embrace his presidency.
"Mia Love gave me no love," Trump said. "And she lost. Too bad. Sorry about that, Mia."
This is the second time Love has narrowly lost a bid for Congress. In her first run in 2012, Love lost to incumbent Democrat Jim Matheson by 768 votes. She went on to defeat Democratic challenger Doug Owens in 2014 and again in 2016.
McAdams pitched himself as a solid moderate, a strategy aimed at independent voters who account for nearly four in 10 voters in the largely suburban Salt Lake City district and designed to overcome his built-in disadvantage in a district where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by nearly 3-to-1.
Though solidly conservative, Utah voters have long been uncomfortable with Trump’s brash style and his comments about women and immigrants. That anxiety is especially pronounced in the suburbs of blue-leaning Salt Lake City, and McAdams’ mayor position gave him solid name recognition with voters.
With McAdams' victory, Democrats have flipped nearly 40 seats — including all seven in Orange County, California, once a GOP stronghold — to win control of the U.S. House.
I'd never thought I'd give Trump any form of credit, but damn. He, perhaps unwittingly, predicted McAdams had it in this tight race.
Oh, and you gotta love The Hill's choice in pic in announcing the winner on their twitter:
Dem flips GOP-held House seat in Utah https://t.co/2qyZ3xibGOpic.twitter.com/hbF9TrrlSc
— The Hill (@thehill) November 21, 2018
McAdams isn't the only Utah Democrat to enjoy a victory this last election. From ballotpedia in the Utah House of Representatives, despite it's Republican lead:
District 18 - Adam Alba
District 23 - Sandra Hollins
District 24 - Jen Dailey-Provost
District 25 - Joel Briscoe
District 26 - Angela Romero
District 28 - Brian King
District 31 - Elizabeth Weight
District 32 - Suzanne Harrison
District 34 - Karen Kwan
District 35 - Mark Wheatley
District 36 - Patrice Arent
District 37 - Carol Moss
District 40 - Stephanie Pitcher
District 44 - Andrew Stoddard
District 46 - Marie Poulson
In other election news, Proposition 2, which involves legalization of medicinal marijuana, Proposition 3, which is a Medicaid expansion, and Proposition 4, which involves independent redistricting of votes (which is an anti-gerrymandering step) are voted in a FOR majority. (Source: NYT)
Apologies for the wall of text, but thoughts? Nice to see the other side fight in an otherwise deep-red state.
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