- A new poll from Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics shows Mike Lee leading Evan McMullin by 36%-34%.
- The Utah Senate election is shaping up to be one of the most competitive statewide contests in years.
- According to Hinckley manager Jason Perry, the key to victory is the support of moderate voters in the state.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee has a narrow lead over independent candidate Evan McMullin in the Utah Senate election, one of the most competitive elections statewide in recent memory in the longtime Republican stronghold. are becoming one.
In the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll (among registered voters), 36% of respondents backed Lee, 34% backed McMullin, and 13% chose another candidate. The poll results also show that 16% of respondents are undecided.
Among voters, the race has changed little, with Lee leading McMullin 37% to 34% and 16% of respondents saying they are undecided.
The poll surveyed 815 registered voters from September 3 to September 21 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.43 percentage points.
Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute for Political Science at the University of Utah, told the Deseret News that the polls hold the key to a group of moderates still unconvinced of Lee’s third term in Washington, D.C. said that it shows that It’s also important for McMullin if the incumbent wins his November and McMullin is looking to upset Republican lawmakers.
“Mike Lee remains in the driver’s seat, but the most interesting aspect of this poll is who the undecided voters are: moderates and liberals,” Perry told the publication. “Mike Lee needs some moderates, Evan McMullin needs all the moderates and liberals he can convince, but those groups are stumped.”
Utah Independent Senator Evan McMullin.
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
In April, Utah Democrats backed McMullin in the November election, thus overtaking their own candidate. In endorsing McMullin, Democrats lined up behind a former CIA agent who failed to run for president in his 2016 run, but he had a strong showing in Beehive State. Republican state of the country.
While Lee is overwhelmingly unanimous in voting with most Republican senators, McMullin told NBC News in July that he would not hold caucuses with either major party if elected this fall. rice field.
Republican candidates generally enjoy a healthy financial advantage in Utah, but McMullin has managed to remain competitive with the incumbents.
According to OpenSecrets, Lee raised $7.9 million and had nearly $2.5 million in cash on hand. McMullin, on the other hand, raised over his $3.2 million, and he had nearly $1.3 million in cash on hand.
In the last Deseret News/Hinckley poll (conducted in July), Lee had a 41% to 36% lead over McMullin.
The latest results show some decline in support for the senator, and the number of undecided voters has increased since then.