Evan McMullin, the former undercover CIA officer and failed 2016 third-party presidential candidate, is setting his eyes on the U.S. Senate by announcing his run as an independent looking to replace Republican Sen. Mike Lee (UT) in the midterms next year.
“Our politics are broken. And it’s putting our country in danger,” he stated, in a statement announcing his Senate bid, “We need leaders who will unite rather than divide. Washington has left us so polarized that we’re failing to overcome major problems facing the nation and it has to change.”
McMullin would be running against Lee, who would be seeking his third term as senator and sits on the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee and is the ranking member of the panel’s antitrust subcommittee.
In a campaign launch video, he detailed why he entered government service after the September 11 terrorist attack and working undercover.
“America has reached another crossroads, our streets on fire and our temple of democracy desecrated,” he said in the video over an image of the incident on January 6 at the capitol. “The extremes in Washington don’t represent Utah. They prevent us from governing ourselves, and they jeopardize our democracy. The result is crisis after crisis that never gets solved.”
“But here at home, we have a better way. The Utah way. It’s more compassionate, selfless and independent. The kind of leadership that sticks to principle but still finds common ground to solve problems,” he continued. “I’m not running as a Republican or a Democrat but as a patriot committed to defending our nation.”
His 2016 bid never took off nationally, only receiving under half a percent nationally, ultimately trailing Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate, and Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate. However, he was able to collect over 21 percent of the vote in Utah.
Lee, as the incumbent running for reelection to the Senate, collected 68.1 percent of the vote from Utah voters in the general election.
Follow Jacob Bliss on Twitter @jacobmbliss.