Mike Lee Calls Upon Romney to Offer His Endorsement in Utah Senate Race

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) is urging fellow Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) to offer his endorsement as he seeks to fend off a challenge from independent candidate Evan McMullin in a race that is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in decades for the deep-red state.

The plea comes less than four weeks before Election Day, when Lee is set to face off against McMullin, a onetime Republican who ran against former President Donald Trump in the GOP presidential primary elections in 2016. Romney has refrained from endorsing either candidate in the race, contending both Lee and McMullin are his “friends.”

INDEPENDENT EVAN MCMULLIN CLOSES IN ON  MIKE LEE’S LEAD IN UTAH SENATE RACE

“I’ve asked him, I’m asking him again, right here, again,” Lee told Fox News’s Tucker Carlson on Tuesday. “Mitt, if you’d like to protect the Republican majority and give us any chance of seizing the Republican majority — once again, getting it away from the Democrats … please get on board. Help me win reelection. Help us do that. You can get your entire family to donate to me.”

Lee has maintained a lead in the polls over the last few months, but recent polling shows McMullin closing that gap. About 41% of registered Utah voters say they’d vote for Lee if the election were held today, compared to 37% who said the same for McMullin, according to a new Deseret News-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll.

The 4-point margin is slightly narrower than Lee’s 5-point lead in a similar poll conducted in July.

“Sen. Lee knows how essential it is for Republicans to regain control of the Senate to push back the disastrous Biden agenda that is crushing Utah families with unchecked spending and runaway inflation — but let’s be clear, Mike Lee is leading this race,” said Matt Lusty, Lee’s campaign adviser. “Every reliable poll shows Senator Lee with a significant lead and our internal polling gives us even greater confidence in the strong support he has across the state. Sen. Lee sees it as important for all members of the party to stand together and he welcomes the public endorsement of all of his Senate GOP colleagues, including Sen. Romney.”

McMullin has attracted criticism from Republicans who argue the independent is a Democrat disguising himself as a conservative candidate. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Fox News host Sean Hannity denounced McMullin as a “Romney Republican,” referring to Romney’s reputation as a centrist member of the party and a frequent critic of Trump.

McMullin has pushed back against those accusations, arguing he is “not an extremist who’s abandoned the Constitution in the pursuit of power.”

“I know you wish I were a Democrat so Mike would have a better shot. But I’m an independent building a coalition of Republicans, Democrats and independents to replace your pal and end the broken politics you both enable in Washington,” McMullin said in a tweet. “Must be terrifying for you.”

McMullin has vowed that if elected, he would not caucus with either party.

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The Senate race in Utah is generally deemed noncompetitive, as Republicans are typically favored to win federal and statewide races against their Democratic challengers. However, the Utah Senate race has garnered nationwide attention after state Democrats opted not to advance a candidate from their own party and instead threw their support behind McMullin.

McMullin won the backing of Democratic leaders after they voted in April to nix their candidate from the ballot, conceding the party would have an uphill battle trying to unseat an incumbent Republican senator in the reliably red state. The vote not to advance their own candidate was a first-of-its-kind move aimed at shifting the balance of power in the state.