Utah’s Lee faces tight race against independent McMullin

By SAM METZ
Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An independent candidate with backing from Democrats is attempting to end the Republican stranglehold on U.S. Senate seats in Utah, hoping to harness the antipathy many voters in the state feel toward former President Donald Trump becoming the GOP’s standard-bearer. Evan McMullin has spent months attacking second term Republican Sen. Mike Lee and characterizing him as a Trump acolyte who abandoned the U.S. Constitution to assist in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Lee has tried to focus the race on everyday issues such as the cost of living and aimed to appeal to the state’s Republican party roots by making a case about how important he thinks it is for the party to retake the Senate.