Salt Lake County Ben McAdams is in good shape if he decides to run for another term in 2016.
A new UtahPolicy.com survey finds 52% of Salt Lake County residents say McAdams deserves to be re-elected in 2016. 31% say he should not get another term. 7% don't know.
The survey was conducted prior to the news that McAdams' former campaign manager, Rep. Justin Miller, was fired for allegedly stealing $30,000 from McAdams campaign account came to light. Miller leveled charges against McAdams about improprieties in the awarding of county contracts. Those charges were found to be without merit by prosecutors.
The whole mudslinging mess could cause some complications for McAdams, who has remained relatively controversy free during his first term. It remains to be seen what if any effect the burgeoning scandal will have on McAdams political future.
McAdams has worked hard to cultivate a good relationship with colleagues on both sides of the aisle. It's not clear that strategy has been a complete success. Not surprisingly, 66% of Democrats in Salt Lake County say McAdams deserves another term. However, 47% of Republicans think he should serve four more terms while 35% say no. We see the same numbers amongst independent voters as 49% think he's worthy of another term and 33% say he isn't.
If McAdams runs and wins another term, that will make it four straight for Democrats in one of the biggest political races in Utah, a winning streak the state's minority party hasn't seen in quite some time.
McAdams has not yet announced he will be running for another term, and there are no Republicans making moves at this time to challenge him next year. That makes sense since the 2016 election is more than 500 days away.
The survey was conducted May 4-12, 2015 by Dan Jones and Associates among 301 registered voters in Salt Lake County. It has a margin of error of +/- 5.65%
