Evan McMullin outraises GOP incumbent Utah Sen. Mike Lee

Evan McMullin, who is running as an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican Sen. Mike Lee, poses in Memory Grove Park in Salt Lake City, Utah, Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. Campaign finance fillings detailing the final three months of last year show McMullin raised more than $1 million, which is almost double Lee's haul. However, he begins the midterm election year with less than half the campaign funds of Lee, who raised more over the course of 2021 | Associated Press photo by Sam Metz, St. George News

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An independent candidate challenging U.S. Sen. Mike Lee in Utah raised more in campaign contributions than the incumbent Republican in the final quarter of 2021, setting the stage for a costly Senate race in a state where sitting Republicans typically cruise to victory.

In this file photo Sen. Mike Lee delivers a speech on the Senate floor, Washington, D.C., October 2015 | Image courtesy of offices of Sen. Mike Lee’s, St. George News

Evan McMullin, a former CIA operative who ran as a third-party candidate for president in 2016, finished the year with more than $1 million in campaign contributions, after announcing plans to challenge Lee in October.

The former Republican spent roughly $330,000 from the time he announced his candidacy, campaign finance filings released Monday show. McMullin began 2022 with more than $700,000 cash on-hand.

Still, Lee began the year with $2.2 million in cash, which is more than double McMullin. Lee, who started last year with $550,000, raised more than $520,000 in the final quarter of 2021. He spent $106,000 in total in the 2016 election cycle, when he ran for his second term in the Senate.

Unlike traditional political battlegrounds that surround it, Utah is an unwaveringly red state that has voted for Republican presidential candidates for more than half a century.

File photo of independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin stopped in St. George for a town hall meeting on the top floor of the Dixie Academy building that become packed with prospective voters. McMullin touts himself as the one true conservative in the race and is offering his candidacy as a “principled” alternative to Donald Trump, St. George, Utah, Oct. 15, 2016 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Republicans are currently the fastest-growing party in the state, expanding their ranks by 275,000 voters since 2016. They now account for more than half the electorate. However, former President Donald Trump’s performance lagged behind that of the Republican presidential candidates that preceded him, including in 2016, when he received 46% of the state’s vote and McMullin received 22%.

Republicans Becky Edwards and Ally Isom, also seeking Lee’s seat, began the election year with roughly $508,000 and $241,000 in cash, respectively. Democrat John Weston began it with $34,000 in his campaign coffers.

An independent hasn’t wrested a U.S. Senate seat from the two parties since Sen. Angus King won a landslide victory in Maine in 2012. The former governor raised less in contributions than any victorious candidate that cycle and drew from both parties’ voter bases.

Written by SAM METZ, Associated Press.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!