“Fending off attacks from his independent challenger, U.S. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah worked to distinguish himself from former President Donald Trump in a contentious debate Monday evening,” the AP reports.

Said Lee: “I stood against my party time and time again to oppose reckless spending. I will do it again and again and again. We need people who say no.”

New York Times: “No race in the country has spotlighted the events after the 2020 election quite so much as the Senate contest in Utah.”

At one point, Lee attacked McMullin for voting for Joe Biden in 2020. But McMullin deflected noting that Lee actually voted for McMullin for president in 2016.

A new OH Predictive Insights poll in Utah finds Sen. Mike Lee (R) leading challenger Evan McMullin (I) in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 32% with 16% undecided. 

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) wrote an odd op-ed in the Salt Lake Tribune praising his record in the third person.

“Senator Lee has remained committed to advocating for limited government and fiscal responsibility throughout his career. His work is motivated by a deep reverence for our nation and the values that make it great.”

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) publicly begged Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) for an endorsement.

A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found 41% of Utahns would vote for Sen. Mike Lee and 37% would vote for challenger Evan McMullin (I) if the election were held today.

Independent American candidate Tommy Williams picked up 2% and Libertarian James Arthur Hansen got 1%. Another 12% don’t know who they would vote for, while 5% would mark the ballot for someone else.

“Republican senators are growing concerned by colleague Mitt Romney’s refusal to help fellow Utah Republican Mike Lee decisively win his re-election campaign — a posture that could potentially keep their party from gaining a majority in the November elections,” The Federalist reports.

“Unlike every other Republican senator, the 2012 failed Republican presidential candidate is declining to express a preference in Republican Lee’s re-election effort against Democrat-endorsed Evan McMullin.”

For members: Utah Could Be a Model for Independent Candidates

Utah U.S. Senate hopeful Evan McMullin (I) told NBC News that he would remain untethered to either political party, insisting he wouldn’t caucus with Republicans or Democrats if he wins.

Said McMullin: “I need to maintain my independence in order to represent this coalition I’m building — I’ve asked the Democrats to join me, I’ve asked Romney Republicans to join me, independents, the United Utah Party, and they are, they’re joining this coalition.”

He added: “There also are those in the Senate who, I think, are dangerously extreme, Sen. Lee is one of them, and others who have contributed to a weakening of this institution of Congress, and the Senate and of our democracy.”

A new Deseret News-Hinckley Institute poll in Utah finds Mike Lee (R) leading Evan McMullin (I) in the U.S. Senate race, 41% to 37% with 19% still undecided.

Utah Democrats took the unusual step of backing McMullin, rather than fielding their own candidate.

“Evan McMullin’s U.S. Senate campaign spokesperson on Monday reiterated that if he were to become elected the independent candidate vying for incumbent Mike Lee’s seat would not caucus with the Republican or Democratic parties,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

“Utah Democrats have taken the unusual step of endorsing independent candidate Evan McMullin in his race against Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who has faced questions about his furious efforts to overturn the 2020 election to keep former president Donald Trump in power,” the Washington Post reports.

A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics survey in Utah finds Sen. Mike Lee (R) leading his re-election race with 43%, followed by Evan McMullin (I) at 19% and Kael Weston (D) at 11%.

However, there are still 24% of voters undecided.

Said pollster Jason Perry: “The big unknown is what will happen with the independent candidate and where Democrats will fall on their candidate. That is the big question that we’ll be watching.”

Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes (R), who backed Donald Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results, is preparing for a 2024 Senate run that could pit him against Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) in a GOP primary, Politico reports.

Romney’s response: “Were I to run again, the best news I could get would be that Sean Reyes was my opponent.”

“I’m a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Utah to #UnseatMikeLee. I have 55,800 followers. Can we hit 65k followers?”

— Austin Searle (D), virtually campaigning on March 7, 2022.

“I have ended my run for U.S. Senate but any followers I gain is much appreciated. I did not realize that the deadline had passed to file papers with the state.”

— Searle, the next day.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said that he’s likely to stay neutral in Utah’s U.S. Senate race, declining to endorse either Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) or Evan McMullin (I), Politico reports.

Said Romney: “I don’t get involved in primaries and I don’t endorse. I just stay out of them, particularly between two friends.”

Establishment Republicans in Utah are frustrated with Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and quietly plotting to oust him, The Atlantic reports.

“First elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010, Lee has long rankled the local establishment in Utah, where he is viewed by many as a showboating obstructionist whose penchant for provocation routinely embarrasses his home state and its predominant religion. Lee’s MAGA makeover during the Trump presidency served only to exacerbate that perception. Now, as he prepares to run for reelection next year, Lee is bracing for a concerted, multifront campaign to unseat him. He seems to know that a third term isn’t guaranteed.”

Evan McMullin, who won more than 21% of the Utahns’ votes for president in 2016, will challenge Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) as an independent candidate for Utah’s Senate seat next year, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

A new OH Predictive Insights poll in Utah finds found Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) leading the Republican Senate primary with 45%, followed by Becky Edwards (R) at 3%, Brendan Wright (R) at 3% and Ally Isom (R) at 2%.

However, another 48% of likely GOP primary voters remain undecided.

“Utah has never elected a woman to the U.S. Senate,” the Deseret News reports.

“So far, two women have stepped up to challenge two-term Sen. Mike Lee for the Republican nomination next year. Ally Isom, a longtime communications, public policy and political strategist, filed her candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday. Former state lawmaker Becky Edwards filed in May.”

Said Isom: “I watched our Capitol under attack on Jan. 6 and I just thought I want my country back. I want my party back. This isn’t who we are.”