Rep. Ben McAdams conceded to former NFL player Burgess Owens on Monday, putting to an end a close House race for Utah’s 4th Congressional District.
McAdams, 45, left a voicemail congratulating the Republican after returning to Washington, D.C., according to the Deseret News.
“I have done my best,” McAdams said during his concession speech that followed, adding that he was “very proud of [his] service.” While acknowledging their political differences, the Democrat assured his supporters that “we both love our country.”
The Associated Press called the race on Monday evening for Owens, nearly two weeks after Election Day, with the process drawn out with mail-in votes being counted.
In recent days, Owens had been leading by more than 2,000 votes, and prominent Republicans, including President Trump, congratulated him on an early victory before the race had been called by any major media outlet. Only Breitbart previously projected Owens as the victor.
Owens, 68, is a political newcomer who made a friend in Trump, who’s long touted him as a rising star within the GOP. Owens is black and often speaks out about economic opportunities for minorities and defended Trump’s record on race at the Republican National Convention in August.
He is set to be among a handful of black Republicans in Congress and is the second black Republican from Utah to go to Congress. He is a frequent contributor to Fox News.
During a press conference on Monday, McAdams said Democrats will have to appeal more to centrist voters and acknowledged that Owens’s campaign had strong messaging tying Democrats to socialism.
“I’m not part of the far-left extreme of the Democrat Party that talks about socialism, and I repeatedly called that out,” McAdams told reporters. “Not only does that make for bad politics, but I believe for bad policies.”
McAdams has been a centrist Democrat in Congress and co-chaired the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition. He flipped his district’s House seat in 2018, taking it from Republican Rep. Mia Love. During his time in Congress, he broke away from some of the party’s leadership, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The Utah race was viewed as one of the most competitive House contests in the country and projected by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report as being a “Toss Up” until Monday, when it shifted to “Likely Republican.”
With Owens’s victory, Republicans have flipped roughly a dozen seats in the House in the 2020 election, defying polls projecting Democrats expanding their majority by 10 to 15 seats and slimming down their majority in the lower chamber.
Many conservatives expressed congratulations to Owens, including Love.
“Congratulations to my friend @BurgessOwens, who is poised to become Congressman-elect Owens, on his expected win here in UT-04. His integrity, leadership, selflessness, and honor are admirable and will make a desperately needed return to our great Congressional District,” Love said.
