A former covert CIA officer who later served as the political director of the House Republican Conference on Capitol Hill, Evan McMullin was a deep-rooted Republican. But when Donald Trump won the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, McMullin left the party and filed for independence at the last minute. He didn’t even win his home state of Utah, but he knew from talking to voters that many were frustrated with the political climate as well.
“People are sick of the split,” McMullin, 46, told PEOPLE. “We’ve got growing challenges in Utah – inflation is worse here than anywhere else, air quality is a real challenge especially during the summer, we’re running out of water in a historic drought, we’ve got high costs of Take care and move on, the politics of division and extremism just won’t solve it, people are tired of it.
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Republican Senator Mike Lee, 51, is running for re-election. Lee participated in Trump’s 2020 election plans, believing that even after all the votes were counted there was a way for Trump to win. McMullin thought it was time to go.
Lee has reliably delivered far-right votes since entering the Senate in 2011, leaving conservative voters like McMullin as well as left-leaning voters without a vote, McMullin said.
Finding himself unable to defeat the two-term Republican incumbent, and unable to defeat Lee as a Democrat – Utah Democrats had not won a state Senate race in 52 years – he launched an independent campaign.
The problem: Utah votes Republican. At least for the last few years. To win his independence, he must break the coalition and win over voters from all parties.
Among the campaign events were people he called “principled Republicans,” as well as Democrats, members of the United Utah Party and other minor parties. And, of course, independence. “It’s completely unheard of in American politics,” McMullin said. “We’re building a coalition of Utahns that hasn’t represented Utah or national politics well in decades.”
“We hear each other, it’s what is happening here that I don’t think is happening anywhere else in the country, but it is necessary. Our country will not survive if we do not establish a new and lasting alliance to defend our democracy. Even if it’s Pollyanish, it’s what we have to do,” he said.
It may be new in today’s political climate to find a middle ground, but in reality, “It’s an old policy that we’ve left behind,” said Hillary Stirling, president of the moderate United Utah Party. “The national parties have already given up on (moderate voters) and decided to win at these extremes, and that has left the middle.
Other independent senators, such as Bernie Sanders, have a major party. McMullin said he is committed to being an independent and does not plan to speak to Senate Republicans and Democrats. While some Republicans say that means he won’t be given committee jobs, he says it’s a guarantee, and in fact, his participation will be guaranteed because his vote won’t be counted. can easily.
McMullin’s promise to Utahns
The independent candidate sees his non-affiliation as a benefit to Utah residents. “I want us to have a bigger voice in the Senate,” McMullin said. Although most senators vote on legislation along party lines, he is seen as deliberating on issues and may cast the deciding vote. Read also : Political Podcast: Does the DeSantis Force Spell a Problem For Trump?. “That’s going to give us a huge impact. That’s where it’s at,” he said.
If he wins, McMullin is not worried about working with natural allies in the Senate. “I will have more allies than most in the Senate because I will have more flexibility to work across parties.”
Conservative Party candidate Evan McMullin speaks to supporters at an election night event after Republican Donald Trump won in Utah, Salt Lake City November 8, 2016. The Utah Democrat, who is heavily favored to defeat Republican Senator Mike Lee, took an unusual move on Saturday. On April 23, 2022, a party leader hopes to instead go after McMullin, a former independent candidate. Democrats were hit with calls from prominent members who said McMullin, a conservative who captured a large portion of the Utah vote in 2016, was the best chance to beat Lee in a deeply conservative state that did not elect a senator. American Democrats a lot. for more than 50 years.
But trying to please conservatives, moderates and liberals is no easy task. “It’s not that there aren’t tough conversations, we don’t agree on everything, and that’s okay,” McMullin said. He looks for moderate solutions that most people support. He said, for example, he is a gun owner who believes in “reasonable reform.” People can enjoy their Second Amendment rights and laws can protect them from gun violence. “It’s not an either-or,” he said.
Abortion is another hot topic where the right and left seem to be at odds, but, McMullin says, most people prefer a middle ground solution. “There is a growing majority that wants to go through this issue rationally. That does not support the illegal legislation across the country that will force a 10-year-old girl who was raped by her uncle to get pregnant. Who doesn’t want to? to criminalize women, ban contraception, who don’t want to pit Americans against each other.”
He said not everyone agreed on the answer, but “we agreed to confront the extremes.” He said that making contraception more accessible and doing more to support women and children would have an impact on the number of abortions.
Being an independent senator would also allow him to vote neutrally on federal and Supreme Court nominees. He said he will vote for nominees who are qualified for the job and are “neutral and committed to protecting the law and our basic rights,” regardless of party affiliation.
Other votes on the floor may equally be unrelated to party politics. While most senators vote along party lines, “I don’t want to answer to party leaders,” he said. “I want to answer to those who elected me.” Since we do not receive money from Political Action Committees, they will also not be viewed as having a personal interest.
“Now we have a U.S. Senate race and the possibility of electing someone who can be a problem solver,” said Ben McAdams, a former Utah Democrat.
“As a former member of Congress myself, I’ve seen up close how broken Washington is. Sending independence to Washington is a bold step that I think our country needs.”
An unusual challenger arises
Most Democrats don’t align well with McMullin’s conservative views, but they support him because they think it’s important to defeat Lee, McAdams said. See the article : Political Lessons for Democrats in Post-Roe America. “Democrats are saying ‘Evan is not the right candidate for me but he will respect our democracy and respect our elections.’
Among Utah’s conservative voters — 52 percent of the state’s active voters are registered Republicans — Lee appears to be losing his hand. Lee’s willingness to participate in Donald Trump’s efforts to destroy the 2020 election, and his remarks at a Trump campaign event in Arizona that Mormons think Trump is Captain Moroni, are unforgivable. cooking. Moroni is a beloved military leader in the Book of Mormon who led the fight for freedom and liberty. Religious Utahns who looked the other way at Trump’s moral and ethical lapses because they liked his conservative policies found Lee’s comments deeply offensive.
“I don’t want power but to bring it down, I don’t want the glory of the world…” Lee told the crowd. There was a backlash, and Lee finally responded, “I’m not suggesting in any way that people should seek to emulate President Trump in the same way that they might model their lives after Captain Moroni.” Yet two challengers ran against Lee in this year’s Republican primary — as opposed to his last election, when none ran — and nearly four in 10 voters did not support Lee.
In addition, Lee was a leader, voting “no” more times than not. “I want to know what you’re going to do to fix it, not who you’re going to blame,” McAdams said.
Sen. Mike Lee at Trump’s second impeachment trial, which he voted to acquit
| Credit: Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock
58 percent of Utah voters supported Trump in the 2020 election, but many were unhappy with what Trump did after the election in an attempt to maintain his power. And nearly 250,000 Utah voters have already turned to the far right when they supported McMullin’s presidential candidacy in 2016. McMullin’s campaign sees this as an opening.
“Everyone does not agree with everything, but there is something more that unites us, which is more important at this time in the history of our country and our government, it is a decision about free and fair elections, it is a democratic decision, and overall commitment. Our Constitution. Those are the most dangerous things right now,” McMullin said.
“We are at a real crossroads in American history when we have to go back to the basics. This coalition protects what is most important to America, without which we will not solve our country’s other problems,” he said.
Democrats take a chance
Four months before announcing his candidacy last year, he married Emily Norton, a widow with five young children. But McMullin seems to live in extreme drive. Read also : Trump apologized to Cruz for 2016 insults, Paul Manafort says in the new book. Convincing the Democratic Party not to run for their own candidate but to support him instead required meetings, messaging, advertising and tireless campaigning.
Several prominent Democrats backed the idea, telling party delegates, “This is a case where we need to get the party out of the country,” according to Thom DeSirant, executive director of the Utah Democratic Party.
“It’s important for Democrats to run every candidate even if the numbers are not in our favor. But their argument was that this is not a normal race or a normal year,” DeSirant said. “Mike Lee was part of an attempt to overturn the 2020 election, it really concerns me. The fact that we have a senior senator from our state begging the White House, saying, ‘Tell me what to say, tell me. Say what I can. Do it to help, ‘after the vote is in, and we know it’s lost, that’s going to have a profound effect on the future of our country.”
“I can’t imagine a world where this would happen again,” DeSirant said of the Democratic Party’s decision to endorse McMullin. “I’m against a lot of Evan McMullin’s policies. The fact is Evan McMullin’s not a Democrat, he’s not someone who checks all those boxes. It’s sad that the bar is so low that we have to say, ‘Yeah, this guy tried.’ He is not going to overthrow a legitimate election so we need to support him.
“Far-right extremists like Mike Lee have completely diverted the conversation from real politics to the fundamentals of ‘Is this guy going to try to end America as we know it?'” he added.
Party delegates voted in April and decided not to run for the candidate. This was an opportunity for Democrats “to make ourselves fit for an election that we haven’t been in my lifetime,” Rep. McAdams said. Some delegates were shocked. A prospective candidate must waive it. A few protestors left the party.
But the idea of an independent candidate struck a chord with some groups, and others joined the coalition. “Utah has a very strong individual streak, which is a lot in the Mountain West region and in Utah, we’re turning it up to 11,” DeSirant said. “People say that I am not connected to anyone. They say that I am voting for the person and not for the party. They like to have their independence.” Many of those voters appreciate an independent candidate, even if his views don’t align well with theirs.
“Every generation or two there is a realignment of American politics,” McMullin said. “And we need to stand up now to those who threaten our democracy. None of those groups — fundamentalist Republicans, independents or Democrats — have the votes alone to protect the American Republic. They just don’t. So we have to come together.” ah. Only if those groups come together is it possible to replace Mike Lee.”
No one expected the Senate race in Utah this year. The state “hasn’t seen a Senate race like this in decades,” said Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. The latest poll shows McMullin closing in, still trailing Lee by five points, but with a 3.46-point poll and 8% of voters still undecided.
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Utah Republicans have won by more than 30 points since the mid-1990s, Perry says, but the fact that Democrats haven’t fielded a candidate makes this a special race. “It’s a close race and it’s going to be a close race until November,” he said.
