FILE -- Burgess Owens, Republican candidate for Utah’s 4th Congressional District, talks to reporters during an election night event for Republican candidates at the Utah Association of Realtors building in Sandy on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — Congressman-elect Burgess Owens is now preparing to represent Utah’s 4th District in January and is in Washington DC this week for orientation and meetings with other lawmakers.
Monday afternoon Congressman Ben McAdams called Owens to concede the race with about 2,100 votes separating them.
Owens says he had a great conversation with McAdams, who promised to work with him on a smooth transition.
“This is the way Americans should do it,” he said.
“Let’s continue to talk, let’s disagree, but agree to disagree, and respect each other,” he told KSL TV.
He says he will focus on education while emphasizing accountability, and he’ll work to protect small business owners and their culture through a divisive time.
“We need to make sure that thrives across our country. Right now, it’s under attack. We have people that literally hate capitalism. They hate God. And they hate the family unit,” he said.
Owens is the second black representative from Utah. The first was Mia Love, who McAdams beat two years ago by less than 700 votes.
McAdams’ loss makes him the first one-term member of Congress from Utah since 1997. The Fourth Congressional seat has now had four different representatives since it was created in 2012.
Owens said he saw the race as a fight for freedom and what America was built upon
“We are fighting against the socialists and Marxists. My opponent didn’t get any favors when you have the leadership of his party heading so strongly toward leftism,” he said on Fox News Tuesday morning.
He compared the feeling he has now, to the feeling he had with the Oakland Raiders before the Super Bowl in 1980.
“We have a team that is remarkable. I cannot wait for our country to recognize and see this game-changing team we are putting together,” he said.