Staff Reports
The Fox News network called the race for Lee, who will be entering 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 in most states, he did not face off with a Democrat as his primary challenger. Instead, he had McMullin, an independent candidate. The Utah Democrat Party also supported McMullin's bid to oust Lee.
Throughout the campaign, Lee and other politicians have criticized McMullin for his ties with the Democrat Party. He has used the fundraising tool ActBlue, which is used by Democrats, to raise money for his campaign. He also coordinated with leftist activists and US Senator Jon Tester of Montana.
Since McMullin is an independent candidate, Lee has accused him of feeding the "Democrat industrial complex." Even though he has stated that he would not be joining the Democrats if he were elected, Lee and other politicians have predicted that he would caucus with them.
Despite the refusal of Mitt Romney, who is a Republican, to campaign for Lee, the victory of Lee was still considered significant. Even if the members of the same party do not agree on certain issues, it is normal for politicians to support each other. Romney stated that he could not support Lee because he did not want to choose between McMullin and Lee.
The refusal of Romney to campaign for Lee has angered Senate Republicans. His aides were reportedly "so annoyed" by how Lee would not change his stance on the issue.
Despite the lack of support from Romney, the conservative group Club for Growth still supported Lee. Its political action committee, Crypto Freedom, has also criticized McMullin's "un-American," and racist views. In addition, the group has run several ads criticizing McMullin.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Breit Bart.
