Independent Evan McMullin's Senate bid threatens to move Utah out of the MAGA column

Former presidential candidate Evan McMullin appears to have pulled to within striking distance of Utah Sen. Mike Lee in his effort to unseat the Trump-loving two-term incumbent, according to recent reports.

McMullin, who received 21.5 percent of Utah’s presidential vote when he ran as an independent in 2016, trailed Lee by just five percent in the latest poll conducted by the Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics, a nonpartisan institute at the University of Utah. The poll showed Lee leading by 41 to 36 percent, with the remainder going to other independent candidates or decided.

“Utah has not seen a Senate race this competitive in decades,” Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute, told the Deseret News. “Both Lee and McMullin have a base of support locked in and will spend the next few months in a contentious fight to win over the few who remain undecided.”

One factor in McMullin’s favor is having received the “extraordinary” endorsement of the state’s Democratic Party at a contentious state convention in April, the Deseret News reported. The party, which has not won a U.S. Senate seat since 1970, chose not to field a candidate of its own.

At the time, McMullin praised the Democrats for “putting county over party.” He acknowledged there would be differences with Democrats on some issues, but not on the need to attack Lee for supporting Donald Trump’s insurrection. Here’s how that was reported by the Deseret News:

“We know that Sen. Mike Lee was quite involved in the effort to overturn our democracy,” McMullin told reporters shortly after his victory was reflected in vote tallies, seizing another opportunity to blast Lee over his text messages to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows as he explored ideas on how to overturn the 2020 presidential election before ultimately deciding to vote to certify the electoral results on Jan. 6.”

Beyond any poll numbers, McMullin may benefit from his strategy of running as a true independent in an environment where both major political parties are held in low esteem by voters. As the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, McMullin’s candidacy provides “another wrinkle” to the national battle for control of the U.S. Senate, which tenuously rests for now with a 50-50 split favoring the Democrats.

“Mr. McMullin has said that if he wins, he would avoid both parties’ caucuses, unlike independent Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, who caucus with Democrats,” the Journal reported. “They can put me in the supply closet for all I care,” said Mr. McMullin.

“Americans who reject the extremes in our politics are increasingly finding common ground, even on issues that have divided them for a long time.”

The report added, “Mr. McMullin said he envisions himself as a swing vote free to work with both Democrats and Republicans, pointing to the work of Sen. Mitt Romney—the other Utah senator—on bipartisan infrastructure and gun legislation.”

Whether Romney endorses McMullin remains to be seen, but in light of his vote to impeach Trump and his constant criticism of the former president, there have been calls for Romney to do more to “clean his Utah house” on the subject, as reported earlier this month at Raw Story.