UTAH — Four candidates are competing in the Democratic primary to represent Utah's newly redrawn 1st Congressional District. The candidates include former Rep. Ben McAdams, state Sen. Nate Blouin, Liban Mohamed, and Michael Farrell.

The Cook Political Report rates Utah's 1st Congressional District as leaning 12 points in favor of Democrats. The congressional districts in Utah were redrawn following a legal battle concerning partisan gerrymandering. The new map for the 1st Congressional District includes Salt Lake City and the surrounding Democratic-leaning suburbs.

"Democrats are the odds on favorites to win this district," said Damon Cann, professor of political science at Utah State University. "The question has shifted from can a Democrat win to the question of which Democrat will win," Cann said. Liban Mohamed received more than 51% of the delegate votes at the Utah Democratic Party's nominating convention in April.

Ben McAdams served as a U.S. Representative after defeating a Republican incumbent in 2018. "I'm a candidate who can bring people from across the spectrum and rally them together and win tough elections," McAdams said. "I've won tough elections before," he said.

An analysis previously identified McAdams as the most conservative Democrat in the congressional caucus during his tenure. "I'm somebody who has built coalitions to tackle some of our most difficult issues," McAdams said. "Democrats aren't going to win this district by appealing only to Democrats," he said. "We're going to have to build a bigger coalition." "We're going to have to bring in the independents and unaffiliated," McAdams said. "We'll even have to bring in some Republicans." "That's the nature of the way things are in Utah," he said.

Nate Blouin is a Utah state senator. Senator Bernie Sanders has endorsed Blouin. "I'm a progressive Democrat really focused on addressing people's real material concerns," Blouin said. "We've got to take on the big money in politics and actually find ways to reinvest in our communities," he said. "Affordable housing [and] Medicare for all are big proposals that I'm going to fight for in D.C.," Blouin said.

Blouin previously apologized for lewd and disparaging remarks he made online more than a decade ago about Latter-day Saints and sexual assault victims. Michael Farrell is a tax attorney.