Rep. Ben McAdams, and Republican challenger Burgess Owens both pictured in 2020 file photos. (Scott G Winterton and Steve Griffin, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — The latest numbers released by Utah election officials shows Republican challenger Burgess Owens taking the lead in the race for Utah’s 4th Congressional District.
By late Saturday afternoon, challenger Owens led incumbent Rep. Ben McAdams, Utah’s only Democrat in Congress, by 688 votes.
Owens’ lead on Saturday is the latest flip in a tally that has gone back and forth between the two candidates since election night on Nov. 3.
The last time the vote count was updated, Owens was behind McAdams by approximately 400 votes.
Despite the continual back-and-forth, both campaigns have expressed confidence in an eventual victory for their candidate. McAdam’s campaign responded to the most recent tally Saturday, displaying optimism the incumbent will be re-elected.
“Again, we’re seeing numbers go back and forth as additional votes from throughout the 4th District are tallied,” McAdams Campaign Manager Andrew Roberts said in a statement. “We remain confident that Ben will be re-elected. We are grateful to Utah’s election clerks for their dedicated effort on a weekend to update the results for Utah voters and candidates.”
Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swenson told KSL NewsRadio that by late Saturday afternoon, 82,000 mail-in ballots still needed to be counted and that 11,278 provisional ballots are currently being verified.
Also, 1,800 overseas and military ballots must still be counted.
Swenson said that they will not know how many provisional ballots will be eligible for counting until the process of verification is final.
The information from Swenson applies to Salt Lake County overall, and not specifically to the race for the 4th Congressional District.