Utah election called between Mia Love and Ben McAdams - and it's bad news for Pelosi

The Associated Press has called the race for one of Utah's seats on the U.S. House of Representatives as Democratic challenger Ben McAdams appears to have defeated Republican incumbent Rep. Mia Love.

Bad news for Nancy

The popular Haitian-American Republican lawmaker almost overcame an initial lead in the ballot count to the Salt Lake County mayor, but later results led to McAdams making up the gap.

Ironically, although this victory will give Democrats yet another seat in the House that they won from the Republicans, it is bad news for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

This is because McAdams would represent a crucial vote in Pelosi's campaign to secure the speakership of the House, and he is one of sixteen caucus members who signed a letter announcing opposition to her leadership.

McAdams' victory would flip a red seat to the Democrats and increase the net gain of Democratic seats in the House to 38.

McAdams 739 vote lead also puts him just outside the 0.25 percent recount margin, at 0.28 percent of the votes cast.

The McAdams campaign declared victory earlier Tuesday in a statement made before the media.

"What we are hearing from election officials is there are just not enough votes outstanding to make a difference either way,” McAdams said. “I am eager to get to work to represent Utah’s 4th District.

However, as his statement notes, there are still some votes outstanding, and Love has yet to concede the election.

“I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the voters, who along with our family, have been waiting for two weeks to get election results," she said in a statement Tuesday. "Thank you for your continued participation in this process."