Ben McAdams wins Utah's redrawn 1st District, returning a Democrat to the delegation

The result

Democrat Ben McAdams won the race for Utah's 1st Congressional District on Tuesday. Unofficial state results posted at 1:42 a.m. Wednesday showed McAdams with 128,961 votes, or 71.85%, to 44,607 votes, or 24.85%, for Republican Riley Owen. Libertarian Jesse West had 2.01% and unaffiliated candidate Elias Henry Montgomery had 1.26%. ^[1]

The Associated Press called the race for McAdams just before 10:30 p.m., FOX 13 reported. ^[2] McAdams declared victory earlier in the evening. ^[3]

Results are unofficial. County clerks are still counting mail ballots that arrived on Election Day, and counties have until the canvass two weeks after the election to certify final totals.

A district drawn by the court

The 1st District is new in its current form. Third District Judge Dianna Gibson approved a new congressional map in November 2025 after ruling that the Legislature's earlier map, which split Salt Lake County among all four districts, did not follow the state's anti-gerrymandering standards. The new map puts most of Salt Lake County in one district that leans Democratic. ^[2][3]

The district was previously represented by Republican Blake Moore, whose northern Utah seat was reshaped under the new lines. Moore ran this year in the 2nd District. ^[3]

McAdams served one term in the U.S. House, from 2019 to 2021, after defeating Republican Rep. Mia Love in 2018. He lost to Republican Burgess Owens in 2020 by about one percentage point. Before Congress he served in the Utah Senate and two terms as Salt Lake County mayor. ^[2][3]

What it means for Utah's delegation

When he takes office in January, McAdams will be Utah's first Democrat in Congress since he left in January 2021, KUTV reported. Republicans have held all four of Utah's House seats since then. ^[3]

McAdams won a four-way Democratic primary before facing Owen. He campaigned mainly on the cost of housing, groceries and health care. "Working across differences means working with Republicans. It's also going to mean working with more progressive members of my party," he said Tuesday night. ^[3]