Mike Lee Highlights How Electing Evan McMullin Would Give Democrats a Senate Majority

Mike Lee with inset of Evan McMullin looking up (Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images / Inset: Ge
Mike Lee with inset of Evan McMullin looking up (Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images / Inset: George Frey/Getty Images)
Sean Moran

Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) campaign highlighted how Utah independent Senate candidate Evan McMullin is backed by Democrats and how his potential election would only empower Senate Democrats.

Lee’s campaign said as recently as October 16 that McMullin said in an interview that would not caucus with Republicans, even if that keeps Democrats in the Senate majority.

Martin Gold, a U.S. Senate expert, broke down McMullin’s theory that his independent status would grant him power in Congress’s upper chamber. Instead, it would likely make him a minor figure with little influence, unlike Lee, who has committee assignments as a member of the Senate Republican Conference.

John Haddow, a government relations professional, noted that the Senate already has two independents who caucus with Democrats, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Angus King (I-ME). Haddow emphasized that King and Sanders caucus with Democrats as independents because that way they can receive committee assignments and thus, more influence.

This is why Lee, in an interview with Breitbart News Saturday, warned that McMullin would end up caucusing with Democrats if he were elected.

Haddow said this would enable Biden to confirm more leftist judges:

There are two independent[s] in the Senate, Bernie Sanders and Angus King. Both caucus with the Democrats and receive their committee assignments from that caucus. Joe Manchin is a moderate Democrat and caucuses with the Democrats as well. Joe has often said he is more valuable to Republicans as a Democrat. But he remains a Democrat and that allows the Democrats to have the majority in the Senate. That means they control the agenda on the floor of the Senate and chair the committees which gives them total control of the hearings as well as the subpoena process to compel witnesses to come before the committee.
…
Evan McMullin in the Senate would ensure Democratic control of the Senate and that means they can push through more of their progressive agenda. It means that Biden can continue to nominate very liberal judges to the federal court system. It means Biden can continue to nominate ultra-liberals to the Executive Branch because he would have the votes to confirm them.
 The Lee campaign also highlighted that prominent Democrats and leftist celebrities are backing McMullin’s bid to oust Lee:

  • Former Democratic Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang

  • Current Democratic Senator Jon Tester

  • Rob Reiner, actor, filmmaker, and Democrat donor

  • Mark Hammill, actor and Democrat donor

  • Barbara Streisand, actor and Democrat donor

  • Former National Democratic Chairman Howard Dean

  • Former Democratic Senator Bob Kerrey, Nebraska

  • Former Democratic Senator Sam Nunn, Georgia

  • A.J. Balukoff, 2018 Democrat Gubernatorial Candidate in Idaho

  • Ambassador William Eacho, President Obama’s Ambassador to Austria

  • Rod Womer, Woka Foundation

  • Joel Ruben, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for President Obama

  • Former Democratic Congressman Ben McAdams

  • Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson

  • Utah Democratic Party

  • Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall

  • Former Attorney General Candidate Greg Skordas

  • Pamela Lowery, Planned Parenthood

  • Josh Kanter, Alliance for a Better Utah

  • Brian King, Minority Leader for the Utah House Democrats

This also includes tens of thousands of dollars from Democrat lobbyists:

  • Daniella Landau, HLP&R Strategies

  • Michael Levy, Brownstein Hyatt

  • Scott Nelson, K&L Gates

  • Amy Tejral, Avenue Solutions

  • Joseph Britton, Pioneer Public Affairs

  • Nelson Cunningham, McCarty Associates

  • Dwight Fettig, Porterfield, Fettig and Sears

  • Melanie Nathanson, Nathanson Hauck

  • Ben O’Neil, Mcguire Woods

  • Michela Sims, Sims Strategies

  • Michael Smith, Cornerstone Govt. Affairs

  • Tracy Spicer, Avenue Solutions

  • Jeff Forbes, Forbes Tate Partners

  • Bob Russell, Simmons and Russell

  • Waye Smith, The Potomac Group

  • Sam Whitehorn, Elevate Government Affairs

During a debate between Lee and McMullin last week, Lee accused McMullin of feeding the “Democrat industrial complex” by using Democrat fundraising tools and paying Democrat operatives.

A report found that self-proclaimed independent McMullin paid $1.6 million to Democrat firms. He also uses ActBlue, a Democrat fundraising platform, rather than WinRed, a Republican fundraising tool.

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.

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