Anti-Colin Kaepernick candidate Burgess Owens wins election to Congress in Utah

[Polybius]

Source: USA Today

A Black conservative former NFL player who had been harshly critical of player protests in the league has won his bid for Congress in central Utah after making racial issues part of his election effort to win white voters.

Burgess Owens, a Republican who played safety for the New York Jets in the 1970s, beat Rep. Ben McAdams, the white Democratic incumbent who first was elected in Utah’s 4th Congressional District in 2018.

The ballot count took two weeks after Election Day but ended up like this, as of Monday: 47.5% for Owens and 46.9% for McAdams, a difference of 2,139 votes out of more than 372,000 votes cast.

McAdams conceded the election Monday and called Owens to congratulate him. “He expressed appreciation for the opportunity to serve #UT04 and his commitment to a smooth transition,” Owens wrote in a post on Twitter. “My sincere thanks to him for both. Thank you my fellow Utahns, I am committed to have an open ear to serve you. Thank you for the opportunity.”

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2020/11/16/anti-colin-kaepernick-candidate-burgess-owens-wins-house-seat-utah/6319937002/

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[madaboutharry]

1. That is a shame.

He is not a good guy. He is wrapped up defending nutty Q conspiracies and supporting Trump.

That said, it was not realistic to expect to hold onto many of these red state congressional seats.

[Polybius]

2. He's far worse than the Republican who previously held the seat before Ben McAdams

Mia Love at least criticized Trump from time to time.

[PSPS]

3. Republicans alwas run against people not on the ballot

[hatrack]

12. Yeah, hadn't heard that Colin was running for Congress in Utah . . .

[msongs]

4. just another spokesperson for the white supremacy party, and being in utah.... nt

[llashram]

5. one of trump's

sad and indicative of...oh never mind. He's just not worth any more of a comment

[keithbvadu2]

6. Ready-made commercial: Trump disrespecting our National Anthem, the flag, and our military...

We should never, ever again hear right wingers whine about 'kneeling' now that we see what they consider acceptable respect for the flag and national anthem.
-------------------
at Super Bowl party

Ready-made commercial: Trump disrespecting our National Anthem, the flag, and our military...

[MissMillie]

7. not to mention...

about 80 million voters

[MissMillie]

8. I stand behind Kaepernick 100%, but...

I don't understand what affect his actions have on my life, and therefore I don't understand why those actions should affect my vote.

[Arthur_Frain]

9. Man I am so glad I finally got out of that state.

Soul wrenching lay beautiful.

Soul-sucking-ly repressive.

[JohnnyRingo]

10. Did they know he was black?

I mean that with tongue in cheek, but if newspaper columnist Walter Williams ran on the things he says in his op-eds, most white supremacists would vote for him as one of their own. It's only the photo that accompanies the piece that reveals him as a Tom.

With a privileged name like Burgess Owens, this guy could pull that off with enough votes from people who don't usually follow politics (or football).

[Polybius]

15. Sometimes even hard-core white nationalists are ok with someone black if they agree with them

I'll never forget an interview with David Duke around 1991 or 1992. He said he supported Clarence Thomas.

[RussBLib]

11. what is the size of the House Dem majority now?

Searching on Google can sometimes be pretty frustrating.

[Polybius]

13. Depending on the site, it's either 218, 219, or 220

Several races remain uncalled.

[totodeinhere]

14. I'm shocked. I really thought that McAdams would win that race easily.

Yes Utah is a red state but McAdams is a conservative Democrat who I thought ran a good campaign. And he beat a Republican incumbent two years ago. And it was revealed during the campaign that Owens has declared bankruptcy several times and owes thousands of dollars in unpaid federal taxes. But he won anyway.