Ben McAdams Leads Mia Love In Close Race: Utah Election Results

Democratic candidate Ben McAdams is leading his opponent, incumbent Republican Congresswoman Mia Love, in the race for Utah's fourth Congressional district. As of Wednesday morning, McAdams is leading Love by 2.6 percentage points with 69 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press. The New York Times says that the race is very close.

Nationally, Democrats are projected to win the House while Republicans will retain control of the Senate.

In an interview with the local Fox affiliate the day before election day, Love said she believes Nov.6 will be a "good, productive" election and she'll be able to get back to work for the state's fourth district. McAdams is the mayor of Salt Lake County and the latest polls showed that the race is extremely close in the district that Donald Trump won by 6.7 points in 2016.

Real Clear Politics and The Cook Political Report rank the race as a "toss-up" and "Republican toss-up" respectively. A New York Times poll conducted between Oct. 24 and Oct. 26 found that the race was a tie and the latest forecast from the website 538 ranks the race as leaning Democratic.

Love, 42, was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Haitian immigrants. She was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2014, becoming the first black Republican woman elected to Congress. Prior to serving in Congress, Love was the mayor of Saratoga Springs and had also been a member of the Saratoga Springs City Council.

Since Trump was elected, Love has voted nearly 96 percent of the time in line with the president's position, according to an analysis by 538. But she has also spoken out against the administration's policies and proposed policies. Most recently, Love said she doesn't support Trump's position on ending birthright citizenship in the United States and she called the administration's zero-tolerance policy that led to family separations at the border "horrible." When it was reported that Trump had used profane language to describe Haiti and African countries, Love called his comments "unkind, divisive" and said he should apologize.

Polls are open in Utah from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Check back for results in Utah's fourth congressional district race as they are made available.

On her campaign website, Love describes immigration, education and health care as some of her core issues. On health care, Love says she has "repeatedly voted to repeal Obamacare" or the Affordable Care Act. The ACA, which guaranteed coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, was never repealed despite three GOP-led efforts after the election of Trump. As of Oct. 2018, a Kaiser poll on public perception of the ACA showed that 49 percent of adults view the legislation favorably while 42 percent of adults view it unfavorably.

Tell Patch If You See Shenanigans At The Polls

Love's opponent, McAdams, has been the mayor of Salt Lake County since 2013 and served in the Utah State Senate prior to that. On his campaign website, McAdams, 43, has described himself as someone who can bridge the partisan divide in Washington and work with both sides of the aisle. McAdams has also said he wants both parties to fix the Affordable Care Act and says he will oppose allowing insurance companies to kick people off for having pre-existing conditions. On immigration, McAdams' website says the candidate "wants secured borders, higher legal immigration, undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows and more recognition of the important role immigrants play in the U.S. economy."

According to The New York Times, "nationally, Democrats see the district as one of their best chances ot move into red-territory."

SEE ALSO: 2018 Midterm Election Results: Vote A Referendum On 'Trump's GOP'

In the race, Love has also taken heat over money raised for her run in the Republican primary where she didn't face a challenger. Love said she had been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Federal Election Commission but the matter is apparently still under investigation, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

According to a poll conducted between Oct. 3-9 by The Salt Lake Tribune and the Hinckley Institute, the top three things motivating voters to show up at the polls were Mitt Romney, Donald Trump and a ballot proposition that would legalize medical marijuana. According to the Deseret News, both Love and Mcadams have said they support medical marijuana but only McAdams said he would vote for the proposition legalizing it.

Utah's fourth district was created after the 2010 Census and the first lawmaker to represent the district was Democrat Jim Matheison. The district consists of parts of Salt Lake, Juab, Utah and Sanpete counties.

Photo: U.S. Rep. Mia Love and Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams participate in a debate at the Gail Miller Conference Center at Salt Lake Community College on Monday, Oct. 15, 2018, in Sandy, Utah, as the two battle for Utah's 4th Congressional District. Photo by Scott G Winterton/Deseret News, via Associate Press, Pool