Thom Carter won’t run for Utah’s 4th Congressional District seat

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SALT LAKE CITY — Republican Thom Carter, the executive director of the Utah Clean Air Partnership, said Wednesday he’s decided not to run for the 4th District seat held by Utah’s only Democrat in Congress, Rep. Ben McAdams.

Carter, who said he’d been encouraged to get into the already crowded race by national Republican campaign organizations, said in a statement that “after many late nights and much discussion, we have decided that now isn’t the right time to enter the race for Congress.”

He described the last few weeks as “an amazing roller coaster for our family,” and said “we want to continue to be part of the solution. The public and private encouragement we have received to jump into the race has meant the world to us.”

GOP candidates challenging McAdams include state Rep. Kim Coleman, R-West Jordan; former NFL player Burgess Owens; former KSL NewsRadio host Jay Mcfarland; former Utah GOP communications adviser Kathleen Anderson; and nurse practitioner Chris Biesinger.

McAdams, then Salt Lake County mayor, won the seat in 2018, defeating two-term GOP incumbent Mia Love by less than 700 votes. He has been targeted by President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign as well as national Republican groups and is seen as one of the country’s most vulnerable Democrats in Congress.

The 4th District includes portions of Salt Lake and Utah counties and was previously held by longtime Utah Rep. Jim Matheson, the state’s last Democrat to serve in Congress.