Republican Sen. Mike Lee secured a third term Tuesday after defeating independent challenger Evan McMullin.
Lee’s re-election bid was the most unusual of his career so far, with Utah Democrats scrapping their own nominee for the race in favor of McMullin, giving voters only those two options.
By backing McMullin at their convention and foregoing a Democratic candidate, the race became more competitive with polling showing a persistently high number of undecided voters. The gap between Lee and McMullin settled around 10 points in the closing weeks, according to FiveThirtyEight’s model.
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Lee delivered a strong debate performance against McMullin, but he struggled to address his connection to the Jan. 6 insurrection and his texts with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. While Lee ultimately voted to certify the election, he heavily downplayed the text messages, which showed him engaged in an intensive effort just days before the riot to find a way Trump could be declared the winner.
“If a very small handful of states were to have their legislatures appoint alternative slates of delegates, there could be a path,” Lee told Meadows on Dec. 8, 2020.
McMullin campaigned heavily on saving democracy in addition to presenting himself as Utah’s own version of a Kyrsten Sinema or Joe Manchin.
"If we prevail in this race, it will make Utah the most influential state in the union because nothing will get through the Senate without Utah’s support,” McMullin said in the debate.
That won’t be happening anytime soon, and with McMullin falling short even in the absence of a Democratic nominee, it’s unclear where Utah Democrats will go from here.
