How Utah’s 4th Congressional District could deliver a win that Trump has earned

OPINION:

Salt Lake City — In three short years, President Trump has given us the best economy we’ve had in 50 years, effortlessly proving his four compass points of deregulation, tax cuts, secure borders and pro-American trade deals. Moreover, he’s resumed America’s mantle as leader of the free world, inspiring like-minded nationalist movements across the globe, such as the recent Tory blowout in the U.K.

All of this he’s done despite the headwinds of slander and abuse from Democrats and their allied media. Imagine what the president could do in 2021 and beyond if Republicans retook the House of Representatives this year — a perfectly feasible goal, given how many vulnerable Democrats there are in districts that voted for Mr. Trump in 2016.

One particularly attractive example is Utah’s 4th Congressional District, which should be an easy pickup for the GOP.

When Democrat Ben McAdams narrowly beat Republican Rep. Mia Love in 2018, he grabbed a normally safe Republican seat by less than 700 votes in a race so close it wasn’t settled until two weeks after the November general election. 

Hiding behind a deceptive smile, Mr. McAdams ran as a moderate, like most Democrats in the 31 “Trump” districts — pledging to stand up to Nancy Pelosi and move beyond partisan politics. But, like the others, he voted for impeachment.

Still, his victory was seen more as a referendum on Mrs. Love than anything else. 

Regardless of why Mr. McAdams won, the strong Republican nature of the district (Cook Report has it rated as an R+13 district) ensured that Mr. McAdams would be at the top of every Republican target list. And Mr. McAdams has painted a veritable bull’s-eye on his face by abandoning his promises of bipartisanship, following in lockstep Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leadership by supporting this sham impeachment.

Six Republicans have indicated interest or entered the 4th district race –- State Sen. Dan Hemmert, State Rep. Kim Coleman, Kathleen Anderson, former radio talk-show host Jay McFarland, Chris Biesinger and former NFL player Burgess Owens. Early finance reports indicated that Mr. Hemmert and Mrs. Coleman were the top fundraisers — although Mrs. Anderson did lend her campaign $130,000 according to FEC reports.

While grassroots activists were gearing up for a Hemmert-Coleman primary that carried overtones of Utah’s Romney-Lee split, the race’s outlook has changed radically in the last two weeks. On Dec. 16, Mr. Hemmert announced that he was exiting the race for family and business reasons. Then on Dec. 20, Mrs. Coleman was endorsed by the House Freedom Fund, ensuring that she will have adequate campaign resources, substantial outside help and the blessing of national leaders.

So a race that was looking like an intra-party donnybrook just two weeks ago now has a clear frontrunner — one who is decidedly conservative. Mrs. Coleman has a 100 percent rating from the Utah Taxpayer’s Association and is expected to be a limited-government champion in Congress.

Even in reliably red states like Utah, it is not often who a solid conservative has such an open lane to the nomination for a U.S. House seat. Frequently, establishment forces often rally with money and insider endorsements to block even commonsense conservatives, which often means a primary fight that drains resources better spent against a Democrat. So a pathway more open than usual path for Kim Coleman is great news for GOP voters and bad news for Pelosi water-carriers like Mr. McAdams.

Given how aggressive Democrats have become in their goal to “fundamentally transform” the United States, Utahns are increasingly realizing they can’t trust any representation to them. Mr. McAdams is a far cry from the “blue dog” Jim Matheson who ran every two years as a sensible moderate and was a sensible moderate. This should be an easy win for the Republican column, especially if someone like Mrs. Coleman can win the nomination without a costly intra-party fight.

• Jared Whitley has worked in the U.S. Senate, the White House and the defense industry.