A brief look at the candidates for Utah’s 4th Congressional District

With the mid-term elections just weeks away, now is the time to become educated on the candidates.

Getting to know candidates for their political and social beliefs is what will help push voter turnout on Election Day. The 4th Congressional District in Utah has been held for the past few years by Republican Mia Love, but Democrat Ben McAdams is here to challenge her for the seat.

It has never been easier to find information about people online, politicians especially. While campaigns still put out ads and radio commercials, the place to find the largest amount of information would be the campaign’s official website, where it lists the politician’s achievements, background information and stances on certain issues.

These are some of the issues that are going to affect and determine the midterm elections. If your candidate doesn’t win, getting to know the other can be very important.

Taxes

Love’s view on taxes is normal for a conservative politician, saying, “Tax rates on both individuals and businesses are too high, discouraging investment and endangering the American dream.”

McAdams is a critic of recent tax law, as his website states: “Ben supports tax reform that makes the tax system simpler, fairer and more predictable … He criticized the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act because it favored the wealthy over the middle class.”

Health care

Love makes it firm that she wants to repeal and scrap the Affordable Care Act, saying, “she has repeatedly voted to repeal Obamacare and its most damaging provisions.”

McAdams’s approach to health care is consistent with the Democratic platform, listing the achievements of the law with expanding Medicare for Utah citizens. He says he wants “to work with both parties to fix the Affordable Care Act, rather than just scrapping it.”

Immigration

McAdams wants to better secure our border, but make legal immigration more common. It is also noted that he is a supporter of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). McAdams wants “undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows and more recognition of the important role immigrants play in the U.S. economy.”

Love makes it clear that she is fighting for a more secure border and is also for legal immigration. To address this issue, Love says one of the things she will do is “continue working to prevent visa overstays, which account for nearly 40% of the illegal immigration in the country.”