Topline Takeaways

• Former presidential candidate Evan McMullin ran as an independent Senate candidate, making this the closest US Senate race in Utah since the 1970s.

• All of Utah’s House incumbents kept their seats, partially due to a new congressional district map that favored Republicans.

• While far-right conservatism is still relatively unpopular in Utah, voters are abandoning their old “Never Trump” stance in favor of “MAGA-lite” candidates.

Mike Lee (R) v. Evan McMullin (I)

Evan McMullin’s independent candidacy made this the closest US Senate race in Utah since the 1970s. Normally, Republican candidates walk away with landslide victories, winning with margins of 30 points or more. While incumbent Republican Sen. Mike Lee still walked away victorious, he only beat his opponent by 10 points. McMullin challenged Lee by placing a laser-focus on uniting the state’s “Never Trump” coalition. Not only was he able to peel off moderate Republicans fed up with extremism within their party, he also managed the difficult task of gaining the endorsement of Utah Democrats.

While McMullin stayed on the conservative side of the political spectrum when speaking about the issues, his more moderate stances regularly exposed Sen. Mike Lee’s flirtations with extremism. McMullin voiced his support for many recent bills that Mike Lee has voted against, including gun safety laws and the recent federal infrastructure funding package. The ideological gap between the two candidates was on full display in their responses to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Evan McMullin was clear in his support for rejecting extremism while Lee hid under the cover of dog whistles:

“We can reduce the number of abortions in America while ensuring sensible exceptions exist... It’s a more constructive way forward if we’re willing to reject the extremes.” -Evan McMullin (I)

“We’ve been saying for nearly 50 years that this is not a federal issue. It should be primarily a state issue… So, now that Roe has been overturned correctly, we can’t suddenly make it a federal issue.” -Mike Lee (R)

The problem for McMullin: Utah’s “Never Trump” coalition simply isn’t large enough to elect their own candidates. Donald Trump swayed many Utah voters into his camp during his presidential term: ultimately winning 58% of the vote during his re-election campaign in 2020. McMullin also gave few reasons for less-engaged Democratic voters to turn out to vote. His positioning as the “common sense” candidate failed to energize enough new voters that could upset established trends.

Utah House Republicans Embrace ‘MAGA-Lite’

While Sen. Mike Lee is part of Trump’s circle, (he collaborated with several Republican leaders who sowed public distrust in the voting process), some of his House Republican counterparts have been reluctant to go “full MAGA.”

Some Utah House Republicans holdouts have continued to voice their skepticism towards Republican extremism. Rep. John Curtis has vocally opposed the far-right wing of the party in the past: explicitly calling out the names of those who later went on to block Rep. Kevin McCarthy from becoming House Speaker. Rep. Blake Moore gave full-throated support to Ukraine and NATO while the “MAGA” wing of House Republicans were opposed to sending aid overseas. Both Curtis and Moore also voted in favor of the bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan 6 insurrection.

To be clear, these Utah Republicans still support many core tenets of the MAGA movement. They’re staunchly anti-abortion and share a sick obsession with controlling the lives of trans people. Reps. Chris Stewart and Burgess Owens in particular have been quicker to embrace the MAGA movement: both voted in opposition of certifying the final results of the 2020 election. “MAGA-lite” is still “MAGA” after all.

More From Battleground on Utah

• Understand how Utah’s recent redistricting helped make seats even safer for Republican House incumbents.

• Learn more about Utah’s unique history with the “Never Trump” movement.