It’s official!
Utah Dems won’t put up a candidate of their own and will instead support Evan McMullin against incumbent GOP Sen. Mike Lee:
Utah Democrats voted on Saturday to support independent candidate Evan McMullin, rather than a member of their own party, in an effort to unseat Republican U.S. Senator Mike Lee.https://t.co/XURWDB4Rrc
— The Salt Lake Tribune (@sltrib) April 23, 2022
Good. He’s their problem now:
Today Utah Democrats voted to join Evan McMullin’s independent coalition and NOT nominate a candidate for U.S. Senate. I’m proud to be part of this coalition. Together we can win this race and defeat Mike Lee. #utpol pic.twitter.com/NuI84mRqSa
— Ben McAdams (@BenMcAdams) April 23, 2022
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“Can’t wait to see him get crushed,” tweeted Matt Whitlock, a former staffer to Sen. Orrin Hatch:
Big news. McMullin couldn’t even beat Hillary in Utah in 2016 but he’ll be representing Democrats on the ballot in 2022.
Can’t wait to see him get crushed. https://t.co/ftu1e3hPqd
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 23, 2022
Lincoln Project co-found Reed Galen calls this “huge news” and thinks that Sen. Lee “is vulnerable”:
This is huge news. @SenMikeLee is vulnerable. Utahns don’t believe in him because they know he believes in nothing. Now is the time for @allyforutah and @beckyforutah to strip the bark off Lee. You may not win the primary, but you can help drive Lee’s numbers down between #utpol https://t.co/PEw2K5KGTF
— Reed Galen (@reedgalen) April 24, 2022
But will it work?
Wow. Utah Democrats just voted not to put forward a candidate for U.S. Senate, and will instead back @EvanMcMullin's independent bid against Mike Lee. I wrote last year about Utah's cross-party anti-Lee coalition. That coalition will now be put to the test https://t.co/TgnBteXHRV
— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) April 23, 2022
So far, it’s not going well and McMullin is “big mad” at Dems calling him out for his past statements. Misty Snow was the 2016 Dem candidate for U.S. Senate:
I just got blocked by @EvanMcMullin.
He might want support from Democrats, but he certainly gets big mad when Democrats criticize his record and statements on the rights of women and LGBTQ people.#utpol pic.twitter.com/Hpc49pFK5d
— Misty K Snow (@MistyKSnow) April 25, 2022
Let’s say McMullin wins. Does he caucus with Dems or Republicans?
lol. every interview should get mcmuffin on the record as to if elected, which side of the aisle will he caucus with https://t.co/ChGk7h46If
— DrainTheSwamp++ (@DrainedTheSwamp) April 23, 2022
McMullin has previously said he “would caucus with neither party,” which is pretty problematic:
Already asked and answered: https://t.co/TgnBteXa2n pic.twitter.com/mjeAIwpsLC
— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) April 24, 2022
A U.S. Senator who doesn’t pick sides doesn’t get committee assignments and without committee assignments there’s now power:
How will he represent Utah without any committee assignments? Bc he’ll need to caucus with a party to get committee assignments.
— Conn Carroll (@conncarroll) April 24, 2022
McMullin needs to be asked about this:
I do hope McKay follows up and asks McMullin if he plans to not do any committee work on behalf of Utahns or if he instead will caucus with a party, and if so, which party.
— Conn Carroll (@conncarroll) April 24, 2022
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