Independent Senate candidate Evan McMullin shakes hands with delegates at the Utah Democratic Party convention Saturday, April 23, 2022 at Cottonwood High School in Murray. McMullin is running for Sen. Mike Lee’s seat as an independent.
Katie McKellar, Deseret News
The Utah Democratic Party saw no shortage of drama during its state convention on Saturday — and their decision to not put forth a Democratic candidate to face off with Republican Sen. Mike Lee has big implications for Utah’s U.S. Senate race.
It injects significant momentum into a more moderate, independent movement in Utah politics — and signals Utah Democrats are so eager to up the chances of beating Lee, they’re willing to ditch their own candidate. At least for now.
During Saturday’s at times chaotic convention at Cottonwood High School in the Salt Lake County suburb of Murray, a faction of delegates put forth a motion to opt against choosing a Democratic U.S. Senate nominee and instead back independent candidate Evan McMullin in his bid to unseat Lee.
Lots of handshakes from @EvanMcMullin
— Katie McKellar (@KatieMcKellar1) April 23, 2022
as the auditorium fills with delegates. #utpol @UtahDemocrats pic.twitter.com/MYDUVtoR39
McMullin, a former Republican, ran an unsuccessful independent campaign for president against former President Donald Trump in 2016. Now he’s got Lee in his crosshairs.
Despite several failed maneuvers from Democratic candidate Kael Weston’s supporters to block it from coming to a vote, the motion to back McMullin won with 782 votes to 594 votes in favor of Weston.
Evan McMullin walk back to his car after an interview in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. McMullin is running for Sen. Mike Lee’s seat as an independent..
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
The move to back an independent candidate rather than their own nominee is the first effort of its kind in the Utah Democratic Party’s history.
High-profile Utah Democrats including former Congressman Ben McAdams and Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson believe backing McMullin and not putting a Democrat on the November ballot is the right move to up the chances of defeating Lee.
McAdams argued McMullin can heal gridlock and dysfunction in Congress. He said McMullin would bring “new, courageous leadership to break the mold” and “heal the divide.”
“Evan is the right person for this moment,” McAdams told delegates. “I know Evan. I trust Evan.”
McMullin, who delegates decided through a series of motions would be allowed to speak during the convention, gave a rushed, one-minute speech through scattered shouts and boos from Weston’s camp.
“I want to represent you. I’m committed to that. I will maintain my independence,” McMullin told delegates. “We will show the rest of the country how we beat people like Mike Lee who try to overturn our democracy in the shadows.”
Applause for @EvanMcMullin from his supporting @UtahDemocrats. Boos from @KaelWeston’s side #utpol pic.twitter.com/lR0JF0Fd3t
— Katie McKellar (@KatieMcKellar1) April 23, 2022
McMullin’s Democratic supporters argued a Democrat would stand little chance of winning the election, and that Utah Democrats needed to set aside party loyalty in order to prioritize defeating Lee above all else. It’s been more than 50 years since a Utah Democrat last won a U.S. Senate race.
Yes, McMullin “isn’t going to align with Democrats on every issue,” McAdams told the Deseret News earlier this week. “But he has a path for winning this race.”
But their support hasn’t been without division within the Utah Democratic Party, causing dust-ups on social media.
Weston, the lone candidate vying for the Democratic Party’s nomination in the Senate race, has called the effort “fundamentally disenfranchising,” saying Democrats shouldn’t “give up” and render themselves irrelevant so soon in the election.
Kael Weston poses for a photo in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022. Weston is a Democrat running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican Sen. Mike Lee.
Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Weston also argued choosing not to put a Democrat on the November ballot would “short circuit” the democratic process at the expense of important policy issues that Democrats care about like housing, air quality and water.
“The Utah Democratic Party is not the unseat Mike Lee party,” Weston told the Deseret News earlier this week. “If this campaign is just about Mike Lee, Utah families lose out.”
In an interview while waiting for voting results to be tabulated, Weston said regardless of the outcome he felt good about how the state convention debate played out, even though his supporters’ attempts to block the McMullin effort failed at each turn.
“This is democracy in practice,” he said, calling delegates’ consideration “incredibly important.”
"Whatever happens, it's incredibly important that the @UtahDemocrats Party understands there are a lot of voters in this state who right now feel like their vote doesn't matter," @KaelWeston
— Katie McKellar (@KatieMcKellar1) April 23, 2022
says #utpol
“Whatever happens, it’s incredibly important that the Utah Democratic Party understands there are a lot of voters in this state who right now feel like their vote doesn’t matter,” Weston said.
“This election does matter. Sen. Mike Lee is beatable. And how we beat him is not going to take just some of us, but all of us.”
The contentious debate between McMullin and Weston boiled over into at times fiery exchanges between delegates.
At one point, when party officials took a brief recess to sort through a mess of conflicting motions, one delegate supporting Weston walked over to the right side of the auditorium — where McMullin and most of his supporters were sitting — and began yelling.
“How did you hijack this convention?” he shouted. “We don’t need to break up what’s left of the Democratic party!”
“We’re Democrats!” one of McMullin’s delegate supporters shouted back at him.
“(Expletive) you!” the man yelled back, drawing scattered gasps and boos before storming away.
This story will be updated.
Utah Democrats back independent Evan McMullin in effort to beat Mike Lee
Source: Gabriella Pinoys
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