Just a day after his election victory was sealed with the concession of the Democratic congressman he unseated, Utah Republican Burgess Owens claimed, without evidence, that Democrats have been attempting to cheat in elections for years, and the 2020 vote is shedding some light on that practice.
“This has been going on for quite a while by the Democratic Party,” said Owens in response to a question from Fox Business Channel host Lou Dobbs about allegations of voter fraud. “I lived in Philadelphia for 23 years and it was known for this, and no one ever brought attention to it. It was just the way it was."
“This is not just going to go away. They can’t hide this like they’ve done in the past. We need to have folks go to jail when they start stealing our voices,” he added, complaining that it can’t take “weeks and months” to wait for election results.
Owens defeated first-term Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams in the hotly contested 4th Congressional District. As of Tuesday evening, Owens was ahead by nearly 4,000 votes, although final results won’t be certified until the Nov. 23 canvass.
As votes were tallied following Election Day, Owens sent out several fundraising emails alleging, again without evidence, that the election was being stolen by Democrats. He was not making those claims publicly outside of his fundraising emails.
With McAdams' concession Monday, Owens thanked him for his service and, after a divisive campaign with name-calling on both sides, seemed to be opening his arms to voters of all political stripes in the 4th District.
“Thank you Utah voters. I’m honored to have the opportunity to serve,” he tweeted. “I promise to be an open ear for all Utahns and to serve with all I have. Now, it’s time to get to work.”
But in his Tuesday interview with Dobbs, Owens returned to his familiar rhetoric demonizing the political left in America and vowing to oppose that agenda.
“We will fight against the deep, dark, socialist and Marxist ways of the left. Good Americans on both sides have come to realize what tyranny looks like," he said. “We don’t like being bullied. We don’t like being intimidated. We don’t like being canceled. They don’t understand that where there’s no God, there’s no wisdom.”
Owens is part of one of the most diverse Republican freshman classes in recent history. All of the GOP candidates who flipped Democratic-held seats this year are either minorities, women, or veterans. Owens will be one of two African-Americans Republicans in the House this year. He praised the rest of his incoming freshman class as “true patriots.”
“The Republican Party is showing we’re the true ‘big tent.’ We are very diverse in so many different ways, but what unites us is our love of country,” Owens said. “You’re going to have a very strong offensive team and a united Republican Party. I feel really good about that.”
