Eight House Democrats holding out against impeachment inquiry after Rep. Ben McAdams flips – By David Mark (Washington Examiner) / Oct 5 2019
And then, there were eight.
Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah, a first-term Democrat representing a Salt Lake City-area district won by President Trump in 2016, said he favors an impeachment inquiry of the White House incumbent over the Ukraine whistleblower episode.
“The president’s refusal to further cooperate with congressional oversight, without an impeachment inquiry, is regrettable ,” McAdams said Friday at a town hall, per Utah media outlets. “We find ourselves today at the point that an [impeachment] inquiry is necessary to get all of the facts on the table.”
McAdams had been among a small group of holdouts in the 235-House Democratic Caucus, each representing districts won by Trump in 2016 or that they flipped from Republican control in the 2018 midterm elections, giving Democrats their first majority in the chamber in eight years.
At this point, the House impeachment inquiry holdouts are Reps. Anthony Brindisi of New York, Joe Cunningham of South Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Ron Kind of Wisconsin, Kendra Horn of Oklahoma, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico, and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey.
McAdams, 44, represents a district that favors Republicans in voter registration by 13 points, though it’s long been politically competitive. Since joining the House in January, after defeating Republican incumbent Mia Love in 2018, McAdams has steered a centrist course, particularly shunning impeachment talk.
The Columbia Law School graduate and former corporate lawyer served in Utah’s state Senate for three years and then as Salt Lake City mayor for six years.
His House seat is being targeted heavily by Republicans in 2020. Trump’s effect on the race is an open question. While Utah is among the most Republican states in the nation, Trump is considerably less popular there than other ruby red enclaves around the country. Trump won in the districts represented by McAdams 39%-32%, a lower margin than in Utah’s three other House districts.
