Benjamin Michael McAdams (born December 5, 1974) is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative from Utah's 4th congressional district from 2019 to 2021. McAdams is the Democratic nominee for Utah's 1st congressional district for the 2026 election.
From 2013 to 2019, he served as mayor of Salt Lake County, and from 2009 to 2012, he was the Utah state senator from the 2nd district, which includes Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake, and a portion of West Valley.Benjamin Michael Adams: Volunteer Faculty, University of Utah College of Law McAdams was elected to Congress in 2018, narrowly defeating two-term Republican incumbent Mia Love. In 2020, McAdams ran for reelection, but he lost to Republican challenger Burgess Owens. He is the most recent Democrat to represent Utah in Congress, and during his tenure, was the only Democratic member of Utah's congressional delegation.
Early life and education McAdams was born in West Bountiful, Utah. He has a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Utah and a J.D. with honors from Columbia Law School. At Columbia, McAdams was a member of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review.
Early career
Legal career After graduating from law school, McAdams briefly worked in New York City as an associate at the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell. McAdams and his family then returned to Utah, where he joined the law firm Dorsey & Whitney in Salt Lake City, working in securities law. McAdams then became Senior Advisor to Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker.
McAdams has served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Utah College of Law.
Utah state senator McAdams was elected to replace Scott McCoy as the senator for Utah's second district in a special election on December 19, 2009."Democrats tap McAdams for Seat in Legislature" He was elected to a four-year term on November 2, 2010.
Legislation
In March 2011, McAdams proposed a bill banning employment and housing discrimination against gay and transgender Utahns. His attempt to advance the bill failed on a party-line vote. At the time, he stated the ideas in the bill had “proven to be a success” in cities that had adopted similar measures. Salt Lake City passed a similar measure in 2009.
Scorecards and ratings
McAdams received a 75% rating from the advocacy group Parents for Choice in Education during the 2012 legislative session and a 77% rating from the National Education Association. He also received an 82% score from the Utah Taxpayers Association, the highest-scoring Democrat that year. The Salt Lake Tribune identified McAdams as the most liberal-leaning member of the Utah Senate in 2011;, see also the accompanying Tribune article located here: the next year, however, the Tribune identified him as the third-most conservative Democratic Utah state senator out of eight., see also the accompanying Tribune article located here:
McAdams was given a rating of 33% by the Sutherland Institute, a fiscally and socially conservative political action committee, based on his time in the Utah state senate. He also has a 100% rating from the Utah Sierra Club, which supports greater environmental protection.
Mayoralty (2013-2019)
Elections
In November 2011, McAdams announced his campaign to succeed Peter Corroon as mayor of Salt Lake County, Utah."State Sen. Ben McAdams officially enters race for Salt Lake County mayor" McAdams was elected, on November 6, 2012, defeating Republican nominee Mark Crockett 54% to 45%. McAdams resigned from the state senate before taking office as mayor.
McAdams was mentioned as a potential candidate in Utah's 2016 Senate race or Utah's 2016 gubernatorial race, but did not run for either position. He was reelected to a second term as Salt Lake County Mayor in November 2016 59% to 41%.
Homelessness
McAdams was tasked by the Utah Legislature to select a location for a new homeless shelter in Salt Lake County, outside of Salt Lake City. According to the Deseret News, the task was considered politically damaging, as strong local opposition was expected regardless of the ultimate shelter location. McAdams recommended South Salt Lake, and was opposed by Cherie Wood, the city's mayor. Previously, Draper mayor Troy Walker had volunteered two sites for the shelter in Draper, before rescinding the offer under public pressure.
Before making his recommendation, McAdams spent two nights on the streets of Salt Lake City, posing as a homeless person to gather information. Although tasked with recommending a site for the shelter, McAdams pledged to not support the center's groundbreaking unless the Utah Legislature passes a bill to create a pool of revenue from other cities to help with funding.
McAdams has called for a "radically different approach ... to address homelessness", and has called homelessness a "stubborn and complex social challenge".
Taxes and budgets
In 2014, McAdams supported the renewal of a Zoos, Arts, and Parks (ZAP) tax in Salt Lake County. The ZAP tax amounts to 1 cent on every $10 spent. It partially funds more than 190 county arts and cultural organizations, as well as 30 parks and recreation facilities, including Hogle Zoo, Tracy Aviary, the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium, and others. The tax was approved by voters in 2014, with nearly 77% of county voters in favor.
McAdams's proposed 2018 county budget was passed by the County Council on a 5–4 vote. The opposition was due to an overrun of $367,000 over the preliminary budget request (of $1.3 billion) that McAdams had submitted previously.
McAdams proposed a county budget for 2019 that included additional funds over previous years' budgets for public safety and did not include a tax increase. After some modifications, the Salt Lake County Council passed the budget unanimously.
Economic and community development
McAdams supported a Utah bill that gave Salt Lake County's townships the power to decide their future governance structure. This led to the election in which Millcreek residents voted to incorporate.
McAdams opposed a proposed Facebook data center in West Jordan in 2016. West Jordan city leaders blamed opposition from Salt Lake County, and McAdams in particular, for Facebook's ultimate choice to locate the data center in New Mexico instead of West Jordan. The $2.5 billion data center would have received $195 million from the city and county in tax breaks. McAdams believed that the data center was too expensive, since it would have directly produced a maximum of only 130 jobs. Supporters of the data center argued it would have drawn additional development and investment to the region.
Salt Lake County maintained an AAA bond rating throughout McAdams's tenure as mayor.
United States Representative (2019-2021)
Elections
2018
On October 18, 2017, McAdams announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination to oppose incumbent Representative Mia Love, a Republican representing Utah's 4th congressional district. On April 28, 2018, McAdams won the Democratic nomination at the party's convention. With the backing of 72% of the convention delegates, McAdams avoided a primary campaign.
Under pressure from Love’s campaign, McAdams stated that he would not support Nancy Pelosi for Speaker if elected.
In June 2018, CNN reported that the race was considered "consequential to both parties" because Love had "stood up to [President Donald Trump] on immigration" and "because national Democrats [saw] McAdams as one of their best chances to gain a foothold on red turf".
McAdams was endorsed by the Blue Dog Coalition, a House caucus of conservative and moderate Democrats that stresses fiscal responsibility. He was also endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters
On November 20, final results showed that McAdams had won by 694 votes, or .257%. His margin of victory was greater than the .25% needed to automatically trigger a recount. About $11.4 million combined was spent by Love's and McAdams' campaigns, and outside groups on their behalf, making it one of the most expensive campaigns in Utah history.
With his win, McAdams became the first Democratic member of Congress elected from Utah since Jim Matheson won reelection to the 4th district in 2012.
2020
McAdams was challenged by Republican Burgess Owens, a former NFL player and frequent contributor on Fox News. A United Utah Party candidate, Jonia Broderick, dropped out in October and endorsed McAdams.
Outside groups spent heavily to oppose McAdams. On November 17 the election was called for Burgess Owens, with a margin less than 1%. Owens won the election by overperforming in traditionally Democratic Salt Lake County, and he ultimately defeated McAdams by approximately 3,000 votes, a larger margin than McAdams won by in 2018. The election was one of the closest House races in the country in 2020, as it was not officially called until thirteen days after Election Day.Burgess Owens wins back Utah's 4th Congressional District seat for Republicans. KSL. November 16, 2020. Accessed September 26, 2024.
2026
After a state district judge ruled in August 2025 that Utah's current congressional maps were unfairly drawn to favor Republicans and that the maps had to be redrawn by the legislature, McAdams has been considered a contender for the newly redrawn 1st district, which will be centered around Salt Lake County. McAdams announced his run on November 13.
In November 2025, Politico speculated that the relatively moderate McAdams could struggle in the deep-blue 1st district.Utah Democrats got a gift. Now comes the headache. Politico. November 17, 2025. However, McAdams was the first to gather the necessary signatures to appear on the primary ballot and led other Democratic candidates in fundraising through the end of 2025.Former Rep. Ben McAdams leads the pack in fundraising for Utah’s redrawn 1st District. Deseret News. February 2, 2026.Former Rep. Ben McAdams first Democrat to qualify for ballot in Utah's new 1st District. KSL. February 13, 2026 He also led in polling among the Democratic field through March 2026.Poll: McAdams leads Democratic field in Utah's 1st congressional district race. Utah Political Watch. March 31, 2026. On June 23, 2026, McAdams won the Democratic nomination during the primary election."GOP incumbents Moore, Maloy fend off challengers; McAdams wins Democratic primary". KSL-TV. June 24, 2026.
Tenure
McAdams was the only Democrat in Utah's congressional delegation during the 116th Congress.
Following attacks from Mia Love during the 2018 campaign, seeking to tie McAdams to House speaker Nancy Pelosi, McAdams voted for Stephanie Murphy, a Democratic representative from Florida, for House speaker.
McAdams was one of over 100 members of Congress who asked to have their pay withheld during the 2018–19 United States federal government shutdown.
In April 2019, McAdams introduced legislation proposing a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He was supported by the other 26 members of the Blue Dog Caucus. The amendment would have allowed deficits during wars, recessions, or sustained periods of high unemployment. It would have also protected Social Security and Medicare from court-mandated budget cuts. As justification for the amendment, McAdams cited the $22 trillion debt, $1 trillion annual deficit, increasing interest payments, and lack of efforts by either party to curtail spending growth. Liberal-leaning news sources criticized the plan.
A July 2019 poll showed McAdams with the highest approval rating of any member of Utah's congressional delegation.
McAdams introduced a bill to help victims of Ponzi schemes recover their money. On November 18, 2019, it passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support. Utah has the highest number of known Ponzi schemes per capita in the United States.
McAdams introduced an amendment to a funding bill to prevent resumption of nuclear weapons testing, which passed the House in July 2019.