Ben McAdams and a Review of Utah US Reps Serving Interrupted Terms

McAdams is poised to become just the second U.S. Representative from Utah to return to the chamber after getting voted out of office

With yesterday’s decision by a Utah District Court Judge rejecting a Republican-drawn congressional district map in favor of one that features a safe Democratic seat in Salt Lake County, former U.S. Representative Ben McAdams is seemingly one step closer to winning back a seat in the U.S. House.

For several months McAdams has been expected to vie for a seat in the chamber, and he filed a statement of candidacy (to what was then the current 4th CD) to the Federal Elections Commission on October 16th. A formal announcement is expected this week.

McAdams – a former State Senator (2009-2012) and Salt Lake County Mayor (2013-2019) served one term in the U.S. House after unseating two-term Rep. Mia Love by less than 700 votes in 2018.

McAdams was then unseated in 2020 by former NFL defensive back Burgess Owens by less than 3,800 votes.

Should McAdams win a congressional seat during the 2026 midterms he would become only the second Utahn to return to the chamber after losing a U.S. House seat.

The only legislator to accomplish this feat from the state was Republican William Dawson.

Dawson was a former Davis County Attorney (1926-1934), Mayor of Layton (1935-1939), and State Senator (1940-1944) when he unseated seven-term Democratic 2nd CD U.S. Representative J. Will Robinson by 5.4 points in 1946.

However, after one term Dawson was defeated decisively by former State Representative (1933-1935) and sitting Salt Lake City Judge Reva Beck Bosone in 1948.

Four years later, Dawson sought a rematch against Bosone and turned a 15-point defeat as Thomas Dewey lost the state at the top of the ticket in 1948 to a five-point win in 1952 with party standard-bearer Dwight Eisenhower easily winning Utah and giving an assist to down ballot Republicans.

Dawson would win two more terms in 1954 and 1956 before losing the 2nd CD for good in 1958 to Salt Lake City attorney and law professor David King.

King and three other Utah U.S. Representatives, like Dawson, also served interrupted terms in the U.S. House, but did not exit the chamber in the first instance via a defeat at the ballot box.

After unseating Dawson, King was narrowly reelected by less than two points in 1960 and then instead of running for a third term launched a failed bid for the U.S. Senate in 1962.

But the seat held by King’s successor, former State Senator Sherman Lloyd, again opened up in 1964 when Lloyd ran for the U.S. Senate. King won back his 2nd CD seat riding the party’s massive national wave en route to a double-digit victory against Salt Lake City Republican insurance company manager Thomas Judd.

Lloyd’s 1964 U.S. Senate bid was also unsuccessful and in 1966 he unseated King to return to the U.S. House in his own right. Lloyd would serve a total of four interrupted terms before losing reelection in 1972 to Democratic U.S. Senate staffer Wayne Owens.

Owens also served interrupted terms in the U.S. House. After just one term in the chamber Owens also ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1974. More than a decade later, in 1986, Owens won back the open 2nd CD seat and would serve three more terms before a second failed U.S. Senate bid in 1992.

The other Utah U.S. Representative to serve interrupted terms was Democrat William King – father of the aforementioned Rep. David King.

The elder King was a former Territorial Legislator and a sitting Utah Supreme Court Associate Justice when he won his first term as an at-large U.S. Representative in 1896. King did not seek reelection in 1898, but won back the seat in a 1900 special election.

He was unseated that November by future U.S. Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland.

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