Utah Democrats Back Evan McMullin’s Move to Oust Mike Lee

Utah Democrats backed failed presidential candidate and former CIA officer Evan McMullin’s bid to oust Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT).

Utah Democrat delegates voted 57 to 53 percent during their party convention over the weekend to back McMullin over their own Democrat candidate.

McMullin ran for president in 2016, and although he only accrued one percent of the national popular vote, he won 22 percent of the vote in Utah. Now he is running as an independent to try to unseat Lee.

McMullin’s campaign said in a statement after the vote, “This marks the first time in Utah’s history that the Democratic Party has not put forward a candidate for a statewide race choosing instead to put country over party.”

“I’m humbled and grateful to the Democratic delegates today for their decision to support this growing cross-partisan coalition,” the deep state candidate remarked. “Today, and moving forward, this coalition represents a majority of Utahns who want to replace Senator Mike Lee. He is a threat to the republic and consistently fails to represent our interests and our values.”

Kael Weston, a former State Department official who had sought the endorsement of the Utah Democrat Party for the Senate race, said, “Let’s all help get other Democrats elected this year. And let’s all help defeat Mike Lee – the sooner the better.”

Utah heavily leans Republican and has not elected a Democrat since 1970. Lee hopes to win a third term in office. He sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee and is the ranking member of the Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust.

Lee has also served as one of the key figures in opposition to the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), which would create a big media “cartel” to the benefit of the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Former President Donald Trump has mocked McMullin as “McMuffin.”