Rep. Mia Love (R-UT) has been a favorite amongst conservatives since she came on the national scene in 2014. This time around, Love faced a tough re-election battle against attorney Ben McAdams (D).
Polls taken over the last month have shown Love and McAdams in a near dead heat. A poll conducted by the Salt Lake Tribune at the beginning of October showed the two tied. A KUTV poll taken at the end of October showed McAdams winning by seven points. A New York Times poll taken during the same time frame showed the two tied.
The Congressional Leadership Fund spent $1.14 million on ads in favor of Love while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent roughly half-a-million dollars on two different ad buys in support of McAdams. According to Ballotpedia, FreedomWorks also spent $2,500 on a get out the vote campaign in favor of Love.
Interestingly enough, one of Love's children received a text message encouraging him or her to vote for McAdams:
Just when I thought this election cycle couldn’t get worse, my 15 year old who can’t even vote got this while at church. This is inappropriate. pic.twitter.com/CtF2lCJC7p
— Mia Love (@MiaBLove) November 4, 2018
But now, the Republican representative is suing Salt Lake County in hopes of stopping the counting that's taking place. She wants to halt the process until someone from her campaign is given the ability to oversee and challenge signatures on ballot envelopes. Her campaign hopes to stop the counting until the ballots in question are resolved, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
McAdams slammed Love and her campaign's decision to file the lawsuit:
It is the job of election officials to decide what votes count, not political candidates. Rep. Love's decision to sue only in SLCo as she continues to trail in this race is unfortunate and smacks of desperation. Utah voters deserve better than this. #utpol https://t.co/XjvGX6sdaU
— Ben McAdams (@BenMcAdams) November 14, 2018
As of Wednesday evening, McAdams led by 873 votes, or 0.36 percent of the vote. Under Utah law, candidates can request a recount if the margin of victory is 0.25 percent or less, the Washington Post reported.
A hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.