On Nov. 19, the candidate for Utah’s potential new Democrat-favoring congressional district shared a story on X written by the left-friendly ProPublica. The story explained a tragic situation where Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old mother, died after not being able to obtain an abortion.

In his repost, McAdams said:

“This is a heartbreaking example of the toll of abortion bans and what happens when women are denied access to health care.

“If elected, I would vote to codify Roe and restore a woman’s right to choose.”

Ryan Comer, Standard-Examiner

On Nov. 20, McAdams shared another post, this time regarding “Transgender Day of Remembrance,” which said:

“Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, a reminder that far too many of our trans neighbors, especially young people, are facing violence, isolation, and despair. This year, the U.S. lost more trans people to murders and suicides than any other country. That should shake every one of us.

“How we speak about and treat trans people, especially trans kids, is a test of our values and the health of our democracy. I’m committed to standing with the most vulnerable in our community and fighting for a country where every person is safe, seen, and able to live with dignity.”

On Nov. 21, he posted:

“I’m honored to have the endorsement and support of so many of Utah’s LGBTQ leaders. I look forward to continuing to work alongside them. From passing groundbreaking non-discrimination policies on the local and state level to advocating and voting for equality in Congress, I’ve always been proud to stand with the LGBTQ community, not because it was always politically popular but because it was the right thing to do.”

Attached to the Nov. 21 post were 11 endorsements from LGBTQ leaders under the header: “BEN IS A TRUSTED LEADER FOR LGBTQ RIGHTS.” The words “TRUSTED LEADER” were highlighted, and each endorsement included LGBTQ.

Noticeably absent are messages affirming McAdams’ commitment to religious values and protections. He didn’t point out how heartbreaking it is to have countless human beings violently killed through abortion, and he apparently doesn’t consider unborn human beings to be “the most vulnerable in our community,” even though they are literally defenseless — an interesting admission considering that in 2019 he told Utah Policy that he’s “a person of faith” who believes “in the sanctity of life at all stages.”

I know many liberal people of faith justify their pro-choice support by saying they are pro-life in their personal beliefs but pro-choice in public policy, but to not believe the unborn are “the most vulnerable in our community” isn’t even pro-life in one’s personal beliefs.

No doubt, McAdams knows the biggest obstacle to his candidacy is whether he is progressive enough, and so he is avoiding any kind of language that could allow him to be challenged on that and sharing posts to show the voters not only that he is progressive but that he has always been progressive.

On Nov. 21, the Deseret News ran a story on the new district and Kathleen Riebe, the state senator who was first to announce a run for it. The story highlighted how deep blue the new district is projected to be.

“The district would be a deeper shade of blue, and one in which Kamala Harris won by more than 20 percentage points in the 2024 election,” wrote the author, Cami Mondeaux.

A reminder: Harris has been one of the most liberal members of the Senate in the 21st century. From an op-ed by Mark P. Jones in The Hill dated Aug. 8, 2024:

“Since the turn of the century, there have been 11 complete Congresses (107th through 117th), with only five months remaining in the 118th. During this period, there were 109 different Democrats who served in the Senate and cast a sufficient number of roll call votes for a reliable analysis of their ideological position.

“Of these 109 Democrats, Harris has the second-most liberal voting record. This makes her slightly less liberal than Warren, but more liberal than all of the remaining 107 Democrats, and significantly more liberal than all but a handful.

“Included among these 109 Democrats are President Biden, former President Barack Obama and 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. The record indicates Clinton is more liberal than 74, Obama more liberal than 62 and Biden’s more liberal than 52.”

If you watched college football during the 2024 election season, you most likely saw just how progressive Harris was when it was revealed in a blistering ad that she supported taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners.

PolitiFact’s Grace Abels did a fact check in an article dated Oct. 18, 2024, and said that the claim “stems from statements Harris made during her 2019 Democratic presidential primary run in support of gender-affirming care access, including for federal detainees.”

Elaborating, the PolitiFact article stated:

“Harris said something similar in response to a 2019 American Civil Liberties Union candidate questionnaire.

“‘As President,’ the questionnaire asked, ‘will you use your executive authority to ensure that transgender and nonbinary people who rely on the state for medical care — including those in prison and immigration detention — will have access to comprehensive treatment associated with gender transition, including all necessary surgical care? If yes, how will you do so?’

“Harris checked ‘yes’ and wrote, ‘I support policies ensuring that federal prisoners and detainees are able to obtain medically necessary care for gender transition, including surgical care, while incarcerated or detained.'”

Much has been said about how detrimental this ad was for Harris and her electoral chances, and yet, this new Utah district apparently supported her by 20 percentage points over Trump. No wonder McAdams is taking the social media approach he’s taking.

But will it be enough for him?

Riebe, according to the Deseret News article, said voters are “looking for something a little different than what they’ve had in the past,” referring to someone historically considered to be more centrist like McAdams.

“This new blue seat gives us the opportunity to be really firm on our values, be really firm on what it means to represent Salt Lake County, and also to build that bridge with our rural communities,” she said in the article.

Recognizing that “opportunity” available, two more people have since entered the race: former state senator Derek Kitchen and current state senator Nate Blouin.

The homepage for Kitchen’s website shared his announcement, which included a post titled: “Derek Kitchen – A Bold Progressive Fighter for Utah’s new 1st District.”

It said:

“Utah finally has a Democratic district, and it deserves a real progressive champion who has what it takes to fight back against Donald Trump and the MAGA Republican agenda. Derek Kitchen has spent his life fighting for justice, equality, and a future where every Utahn has the chance to thrive.”

According to a Utah News Dispatch article by Annie Knox on Kitchen’s announcement:

“He is known in Utah for being one of the plaintiffs who sued the state in 2013, successfully overturning Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage. Kitchen went on to serve on the Salt Lake City Council and won election to the state Senate in 2018, where he served one term before losing in the Democratic primary to now-Sen. Jen Plumb.”

On Nov. 23, Lindsay Aerts of ABC4 News reported on X that Blouin had announced a run for Congress.

In an interview on Aerts’ show “Inside Utah Politics” where Blouin announced his candidacy, he highlighted his speaking role at a rally in Salt Lake City in April featuring Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, two nationally prominent democratic socialists, and said he supported universal health care and Medicare for all.

“We need to move in that direction,” he told Aerts.

On Friday, Sanders officially endorsed Blouin.

Last week, I questioned whether socialism – recently accepted in New York City and Seattle as evidenced by the victories of Zohran Mamdani and Katie Wilson – had already taken hold in Utah. I don’t know if Blouin would consider himself a socialist, or a democratic socialist, but his language would certainly appeal to them. And it really wouldn’t be surprising if he considered himself one or the other.

Recently, I read a Deseret News article by Brigham Tomco that was headlined: “New poll: Majority of Utah Democrats have favorable view of socialism.”

According to the article, 51% of Utah voters who claim to be Democrats reported a favorable view of socialism, which is three percentage points higher than the national Democrat percentage, according to the story.

Additionally, according to the story:

“Democratic socialism — the political ideology espoused by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — was viewed favorably by 61% of Democrats nationally. But it was viewed favorably by 70% of Democrats in Utah.”

The story quotes Brian King, Utah Democratic Party chair, who said Utah Democrats being more likely to favor Mamdani and his socialist ideology was “a positive thing.”

So this is where Democrats in Utah seem completely willing to go, which means that Democrat candidates will be pressured to agree. They surely know that, and I’m seeing no resistance.

Where does all this leave McAdams?

I suspect he’ll continue his march to the left as he tries to showcase his progressivism. But as he does so, his competitors will likely move even more to the left to show how he is still more moderate.

McAdams is willing so far, but how far will he allow himself to be dragged?

Ryan Comer is an editor for the Standard-Examiner and the Daily Herald. He can be reached at rcomer@standard.net.