SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Latest on elections in Utah (all times local):
5 p.m.
Republican U.S. Rep. Mia Love remains locked in a tight race with Democratic challenger Ben McAdams as she fights to keep her House seat in a largely suburban, politically mixed district.
McAdams’ lead inched up Wednesday after blue-leaning Salt Lake County released more results, but the race was still too close to call following a hard-fought campaign in a district where many voters are uncomfortable with President Donald Trump.
McAdams has pitched himself as a moderate in the race that had been targeted by national Democrats pushing to re-gain control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Love has scoffed at that and appealed to voters to help keep the chamber in GOP hands.
Love became the first black Republican woman in Congress in 2014.
McAdams is a mayor a former state lawmaker.
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4:45 p.m.
A Salt Lake City councilman who rose to prominence when his lawsuit overturned Utah’s ban on gay marriage several years ago has won a state senate seat.
Democrat Derek Kitchen easily defeated Republican Chase Winder to replace outspoken and well-known Sen. Jim Dabakis in one of the state Senate’s most liberal districts.
Kitchen will be the only openly gay lawmaker in the state Legislature. The retiring Dabakis held that distinction for years.
A lawsuit filed by Kitchen and his now husband led a judge to overturn Utah’s prohibition on same-sex marriage in 2013. He was elected the city council in 2015.
Kitchen has said he shares Dabakis’s ideology but doesn’t plan to mimic his outsized personality.
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4:15 p.m.
A rural Utah county commissioner who became a cause celebre in the movement challenging federal management of Western public lands when he led an ATV protest ride has won a seat in the state legislature.
Republican Phil Lyman handily defeated an unaffiliated competitor for the seat left open by the retirement of firebrand Rep. Mike Noel after 16 years. Lyman has said he hopes to continue Noel’s advocacy for state control of federal public lands so it can be open to ranching, logging and mining in rural southern Utah.
In 2014, Lyman led ATV riders through a closed canyon home to Native American cliff dwellings to protest federal management of the lands. He served 10 days in jail after a jury found him guilty of illegal use of ATVs and conspiracy.
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3:55 p.m.
The son of former NBA star and Boston Celtics executive Danny Ainge appears to have won a county commission seat in Utah County.
Election results show Tanner Ainge was leading Teri McCabe of the United Utah Party with about 82 percent of the vote. Results won’t be final for about two weeks.
Ainge was the heavy favorite for the commission seat that drew no Democratic challengers. He’ll replace Utah County Commissioner Greg Graves, who didn’t run for re-election.
This was Ainge’s second run for public office. The business consultant lost last year in a three-way special election race to replace former Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz.
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11:37 a.m.
President Donald Trump is saying Republican U.S. Rep. Mia Love lost her bid for another term in Utah because she kept him at arm’s length, even though the race remains too close to call.
The president told reporters Wednesday that “Mia Love gave me no love and she lost. Too bad.”
He claimed others in his party could also have won if he they fully embraced him.
Democrat Ben McAdams is leading Love by nearly 3 percentage points. But many votes in Republican-leaning areas have yet to be tallied.
Love’s spokeswoman Sasha Clark responded to Trump’s declaration by saying that nothing in the race has changed.
Many voters in the district that includes the suburbs of Democrat-leaning Salt Lake City are wary of Trump.
Love has stressed her willingness to speak out when she disagrees with him.
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5 a.m.
Republican Mia Love and her Democratic challenger Ben McAdams knew their race could be close, and as expected they’re locked in a battle that may not be decided for days.
McAdams was leading Love by a narrow margin at the end of election night on the strength of a strong showing in his home county of Salt Lake County.
Love is hoping to flip the deficit by winning a large portion of the votes left to be counted in her stronghold of Utah County, where long polling lines and a lack of early voting led to slow vote tallies.
The race may not be determined until Friday. That’s the next time Utah County is scheduled to release more vote results.
Love, the only black Republican woman in Congress, is seeking a third term.
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