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SALT LAKE CITY — Congressman-elect Ben McAdams announced Monday he will officially step down as Salt Lake County mayor on Jan. 2, the day before he is set to be sworn in in Washington.
McAdams defeated Republican incumbent Mia Love by 694 votes in Utah's 4th Congressional District race. The race was so close that McAdams didn't claim victory until nearly two weeks after the Nov. 6 election.
In a letter to County Council members dated Monday, McAdams wrote he was "honored to have had the opportunity to served as Salt Lake County Mayor for the past six years," and that he was especially proud of the work done to reform homelessness and criminal justice in the county.
"We took bold, bipartisan steps to reform homeless services through unprecedented collaboration," he wrote. "In forming the Collective Impact on Homeless committee, we convened numerous stakeholders and took a data-driven approach to a complex issue.
"We also worked in bipartisan fashion to bring many people together to address criminal justice reforms," he added. "Our bipartisan effort resulted in jailing dangerous criminals, as well as offering an alternative path to those who want to turn their lives around and become self-reliant, contributing members of our community."
McAdams also said he is humbled by the opportunity to continue serving Utahns in his new position.
"I look forward to future opportunities to work together to both sustain our gains and advance our progress on behalf of the county and state we love," he said in the letter.
It will be up to the county's Democratic Party officials to find McAdams' replacement. Jenny Wilson, who ran in the 2018 U.S. Senate race, and Shireen Ghorbani, who ran in the 2018 2nd Congressional District race, have each announced their intent to run for the soon-to-be-open position.
Salt Lake County Democratic Party Chairman Q. Dang told KSL.com in November that the 30-day replacement process would begin immediately after McAdams stepped down.
The party will open up submissions for potential candidates in the first 10 days, Dang said. The following two weeks will be spent allowing candidates to campaign to the central committee members of the party. A special election within the party will be held after that, where a winner would be chosen and their name would be sent to the Salt Lake County Council for final approval.
