Sen. Mike Lee Wins Reelection, Defeats Never Trumper Evan McMullin

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) won reelection on Tuesday night, defeating Never Trumper and Utah independent Senate candidate Evan McMullin, according to projections. 

Fox News called the race in favor of Lee, who will enter his third term. 

UTAH: The Fox News Decision Desk is also projecting that Republican incumbent Mike Lee will hold on in the Utah Senate race. He defeats independent candidate Evan McMullin, who also failed in his 2016 presidential bid.

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) November 9, 2022

Unlike most states, Lee did not face off against a Democrat as his primary opponent. Instead, he had independent candidate McMullin. Instead of pushing their own candidate, the Utah Democrat Party endorsed McMullin’s bid to oust Lee instead of their own. 

Lee and others have consistently criticized McMullin for his cozy ties with the Democrat Party, which includes using the Democrat fundraising tool ActBlue, fundraising with Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), and fundraising with leftist activists such as Alyssa Milano. McMullin has even paid over $1.9 million to Democrat operatives to carry out his campaign. 

This is why Lee has accused McMullin of feeding the “Democrat industrial complex.”

Even though he has pledged that he would remain independent in the Senate if he were elected, Lee and others have predicted that he would have caucused with the Democrats if he were elected. 

Lee’s victory comes in spite of Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) refusal to endorse and campaign for Lee’s reelection. Even if members of the same party disagree on issues, it is customary for fellow lawmakers, especially from the same congressional delegation to campaign for each other. Romney has refused to back Lee, claiming that he cannot choose between his two friends, Lee and McMullin. 

His refusal to back Lee has enraged fellow Senate Republicans. Lee’s refusal to relent on the issue has made Romney’s aides “so annoyed.”

Despite Romney’s lack of support for Lee, the Club for Growth has been a stern supporter of Utah’s senior senator. 

The Club for Growth Action, as well as the Crypto Freedom PAC, which is allied with the Club for Growth, has ran many ads and flyers highlighting McMullin’s anti-Republican rhetoric, which includes referring to the GOP as “un-Americans,” bigots, and racists. 

The ads enraged McMullin so much that he filed a lawsuit against the Club for Growth. 

The Club for Growth, in conjunction with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), even ran an ad to boost Lee’s reelection as part of DeSantis’s first ad for an out-of-state Republican. 

Follow coverage of the 2022 midterm elections on Breitbart News.