Love Gains Votes In Utah County; McAdams Maintains Lead

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The hard-fought race between Republican U.S. Rep. Mia Love and Democratic challenger Ben McAdams was still in play, three days after the polls closed.

New results released Friday cut into McAdams’ approximately 3 percent lead, but the race remains too close to call with many ballots from Republican-leaning Utah County still uncounted.

Love on Friday thanked voters who waited in long lines there on election night.

“We were pleased to see the numbers today but we are going to wait until every vote is counted. Thank you to all of those people who waited in line for such a long time. You deserve better,” Love said in a statement.

She was fighting for a third term representing a politically mixed, largely suburban district where many voters are wary of President Donald Trump.

McAdams ran as a moderate, saying it would not support California Rep. Nancy Pelosi as House speaker and insisting he could work with the president.

“We are happy with the mayor’s lead and look forward to seeing additional results next Tuesday,” said McAdams’ campaign manager Andrew Roberts. “Election officials are working around the clock to process the remaining ballots. We appreciate their hard work and dedication to ensuring a fair and accurate tally of the votes.”

Love, meanwhile, worked to create some distance from Trump while touting the GOP-backed tax cuts.

At a press conference the morning following the election, Trump singled out Love and other Republicans who he felt didn’t support him as they should.

“Mia game me no love, and she lost. Too bad,” he said. “Sorry about that Mia.”

As of Friday afternoon, less than 5,000 votes separated Love and McAdams, with several thousands of ballots still needing to be counted. Those numbers were expected to be released Tuesday.