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Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams Will Challenge Mia Love In 4th District

Salt Lake County

Democratic Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams is jumping into the race for the 4th Congressional District seat against Republican Congresswoman Mia Love.

McAdams told the Salt Lake Tribune a few weeks ago he was seriously considering a run for Congress after receiving encouragement from friends and family.

Late Wednesday, McAdams tweeted “I'm in!” And in press release says he’s running because he wants to take his “bipartisan approach to Washington and apply it to the partisan gridlock.”

The 42-year-old Democrat is in the middle of his second four-year term as mayor of Salt Lake County.

Love is currently serving her second term in the House. The 41-year-old Republican was also the mayor of Saratoga Springs before running for Congress.

When KUER asked Love about a potential challenge from McAdams earlier this month, she declined to comment.

"I'm doing my job," she said as she left a ceremony for Jon Huntsman Jr. at the state capitol on Oct. 7.

McAdams could be a formidable opponent for Love, with an ability to fundraise and run as a more moderate Democrat. The 4th District was previously represented by another moderate Democrat, Jim Matheson, until 2014.

Technically, McAdams lives in the 2nd Congressional District, but is allowed by law to run for any congressional office in the state. As county mayor, he represents a majority of voters within the 4th District.

Julia joined KUER in 2016 after a year reporting at the NPR member station in Reno, Nev. During her stint, she covered battleground politics, school overcrowding, and any story that would take her to the crystal blue shores of Lake Tahoe. Her work earned her two regional Edward R. Murrow awards. Originally from the mountains of Western North Carolina, Julia graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2008 with a degree in journalism. She’s worked as both a print and radio reporter in several states and several countries — from the 2008 Beijing Olympics to Dakar, Senegal. Her curiosity about the American West led her to take a spontaneous, one-way road trip to the Great Basin, where she intends to continue preaching the gospel of community journalism, public radio and podcasting. In her spare time, you’ll find her hanging with her beagle Bodhi, taking pictures of her food and watching Patrick Swayze movies.
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