Meet Meet Mayor-Elect Ben McAdams

Ben McAdams is a former Utah State Senator and Senior Advisor to Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, and candidate for Salt Lake County Mayor. As a state senator, McAdams worked to secure stable funding streams for education, authored legislation to strengthen child safety standards and consumer protections; eliminate housing and employment discrimination; and increase funding for mass transit.

As a Senior Advisor in the Salt Lake City mayor’s office, McAdams has utilized his background as a   corporate finance attorney to manage the strategic relationships between Salt Lake City, Salt Lake  County, and the 16 municipalities and cities in Salt Lake County. McAdam’s ability to find common ground and deliver innovative results in these roles garnered bipartisan support from 13 of 17 County mayors during his Salt Lake County Mayoral Campaign.

Ben is a 7th generation Utahn. He served a mission in Brazil where he became fluent in Portuguese, and has since learned conversational Spanish. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Utah where he served as the Student Body President, and earned his law degree from Columbia Law School where he graduated with honors as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He is currently an adjunct professor teaching securities regulation.

McAdams practiced law with Davis Polk in New York and Dorsey & Whitney in Salt Lake City where he represented clients in complex public and private securities transactions. He maintains his connection to the law as an adjunct professor teaching securities regulation at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah.

Ben, his wife and fellow Columbia graduate Julie, and their four children enjoy hiking (catching bugs), cheering at their kids’ Saturday morning soccer games, and serving in their church.