Former Democratic congressman launches comeback bid in new Salt Lake City district

The most recent Democrat to represent Utah in Congress announced Thursday his bid to return to Washington after a judge adopted a new congressional map creating a heavily Democratic-leaning district in the state. Former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams will run in a new district centered on Salt Lake County, Utah's population center and an island of Democratic support in an otherwise red state. The new district is the result of a legal battle in which a judge struck down the map adopted after the 2020 census because the Republican-led Legislature had bypassed standards established by voters to ensure districts don’t deliberately favor a party, a practice known as gerrymandering.