SALT LAKE CITY — Election Day is two months away, and independent U.S. Senate candidate Evan McMullin continues to push that a two-party system is no longer the answer, but supporters of incumbent Sen. Mike Lee hope to see his streak continue.
McMullin held a rally in downtown Salt Lake City Wednesday evening, saying the issues he stands for stretches across all parties.
“This year and this decade, we will choose either to remain on the path defined by our founding truths, towards a more perfect union or to succumb to those who, for cynical self-interest, now promote a dark alternative to democracy in America,” he said.
McMullin said loyalty to parties has “infected the nation” and that Utah needs to see some change.
“If you aren’t willing to stand up to party bosses and special interest groups or to extremist factions in your own party, before too long you don’t really represent your voters or people in your state anymore, and that’s what happened to Senator Lee,” he said.
FOX 13 News reached out to Lee for comment. The senator was unavailable, but Amelia Powers Gardner, co-chair of his re-election campaign and Utah County Commissioner, spoke on behalf of his team.
“When McMullin first ran for president, he was a conservative alternative to the Republican but now he’s a moderate alternative to the Republican,” she said. “I don’t think we know where Evan McMullin is and I think he’s going to say what he needs to say to get elected.”
Powers Gardner said Lee’s issues, including criminal justice reform and data privacy, are much more bipartisan than McMullin’s.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re on the left with the ACLU or on the right, having broad collection of our data from the federal government is not anything Utahns want,” she said.
Republicans have won every U.S. Senate race in Utah since 1976. McMullin hopes to break that streak while Lee’s supporters hope to see it stay.
“I think Utahns recognize the great work that Senator Lee has done and we’re going to keep him in Washington for us,” said Powers Gardner.
“Together, we can face this moment of peril, and emerge stronger,” said McMullin. “For Utah and America.”
