UTAH, Nov. 14, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) -- Republican office holders including Pres. Donald Trump, Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler have issued congratulations to Fourth District congressional candidate Burgess Owens, who has increased his lead over incumbent Utah Rep. Ben McAdams, a Democrat.
As of Saturday morning, Utah's election website shows Owens with 176,866 votes, which is 47.5% of the popular vote, and McAdams with 174,771 votes, which is 46.93% of the popular vote. More votes are expected to be counted this weekend, although a reported 99% of votes have been counted.
"Republican Burgess Owens Defeats Democrat Rep. Ben McAdams in Utah," Trump tweeted on Friday night, sharing a link to a Breitbart.com article that declares Owens the winner. "Great going Burgess, you continue to be a STAR!"
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1327493494605295616
Lee also tweeted an Owens message, sent out Saturday morning.
"Congratulations @burgessowens! Looking forward to talking with you in DC next week!" it says.
https://twitter.com/SenMikeLee/status/1327653067865681920
Loeffler, who faces a Jan. 5 runoff election in Georgia, also congratulated Owens.
"Congrats to my friend @BurgessOwens on your big win!," she tweeted Friday. I look forward to working with you to protect the American Dream!"
Congrats to my friend @BurgessOwens on your big win! I look forward to working with you to protect the American Dream! ??
— Kelly Loeffler (@KLoeffler) November 14, 2020
Other congratulations were tweeted to Owens from friends, supporters, and other political candidates.
The most recent comment from the McAdams campaign came Wednesday, when spokesman Andrew Roberts released a statement:
"There are still many thousands of ballots to be counted,” Roberts said at that time. "Congressman McAdams was behind at this same point during the 2018 election and ended up as the winner. We are awaiting the next update."
