Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, Democratic candidate for Utah's 4th congressional district, speaks at an election night event for the Utah Democratic Party at the Radisson in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. McAdams' race against incumbent Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, remained too-close-to-call at the end of the night. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams said he is confident he earned the victory in the 4th Congressional District race.
“I’m eager to get to work,” McAdams said at a hastily called news conference held at his Millcreek campaign headquarters. “We are confident there is no way Rep. Love will retake the lead.”
New vote results released Monday night by the Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County show McAdams leads by 739 votes in a race where a total of about 269,000 ballots have been counted across four counties. The Salt Lake County Mayor currently has 134,890 compared to 134,151 for Love.
Rep Mia Love’s campaign did not immediately respond to the press conference.
McAdams leads the Republican incumbent by 0.28 percent – barely outside the threshold for a recount. Under Utah law, a candidate can request a recount if the margin is 0.25 percent or tighter.
The counties are set to release their final vote counts Tuesday afternoon. State election officials will certify the results on Nov. 26.
Earlier Monday, Love had widened her lead with new results from Republican-leaning Utah County.