盐湖城-犹他州民主党人努力击败共和党参议员李政颖周六采取了不同寻常的步骤，拒绝了一项聚会希望转而支持独立的前总统候选人埃文·麦克穆林。
民主党人被一些知名成员的电话所动摇，这些人说，2016年在犹他州获得大量选票的保守派麦克马林是在这个高度保守的州击败李的最佳机会，这个州50多年来从未选举过民主党参议员。
“我想代表你。我致力于此。我将保持我的独立性，”麦克穆林告诉民主党代表。
在共和党提名大会上，李明博还面临两位共和党挑战者。他在右翼人群面前以超过70%的选票轻松获胜。但是这些候选人仍然会出现在初选选票上，因为他们使用了该州初选选票的其他途径并收集了签名。
前州议员贝基·爱德华兹星期六获得了大约12%的选票。前州长办公室副主任艾丽·伊索姆名列第三。
自从美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)报道了显示这位参议员参与了推翻2020年选举结果的早期努力的短信后，李明博与前总统唐纳德·特朗普的关系就成为了焦点选举虽然李后来改变立场，投票确认选举结果在没有大范围的欺诈出现之后。
“我做了我的工作，”李在谈到这些信息时说。“我按照我一直承诺的方式完成了我的工作。”
麦克穆林是一名前中情局官员，他在2016年竞选总统，并在这个非常保守的州取得了进展，许多共和党选民对当时的候选人特朗普持保留态度。李本人对麦克穆林投了抗议票，尽管他后来成为特朗普的坚定盟友，这位前总统也支持他。
一名民主党人凯尔·韦斯顿(Kael Weston)参加了提名竞选，但亲麦克穆林的阵营最终说服党代表不提名任何人，尽可能为独立派扫清道路。他的支持者包括著名的民主党人，如前国会议员本·麦克亚当斯。
“我知道埃文。我相信埃文，”麦克亚当斯在有争议的辩论中对代表们说，在一个共和党人以4比1超过民主党人的州，麦克穆林是推翻李的最佳机会。
共和党主席卡森·约根森(Carson Jorgensen)将目标对准了民主党的决定，认为这显示了对方平台的弱点。“作为共和党人，现在是我们大放异彩的时候了，”他说。"我不知道是否每个人都十分明白这件事的严重性。"
同样在周六，温和派共和党众议员约翰·柯蒂斯(John Curtis)被迫参加初选，在一个拥挤的领域中排名第二，其中包括一名挑战者，他带来了特朗普的长期密友罗杰·斯通(Roger Stone)。然而，这一努力并没有使候选人杰森·普雷斯顿通过第一轮投票。
Utah Democrats back independent as US Senate candidate
SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah Democrats pulling hard to defeat Republican Sen. Mike Lee took the unusual step Saturday of spurning apartyhopeful to instead get behind an independent, former presidential candidate Evan McMullin.
Democrats were swayed by calls from prominent members who said McMullin, a conservative who captured a significant share of the vote in Utah in 2016, was the best chance to beat Lee in the deeply conservative state that hasn't elected a Democratic U.S. senator for more than 50 years.
“I want to represent you. I’m committed to that. I will maintain my independence,” McMullin told Democratic delegates.
Lee also faced two GOP challengers at his party's nominating conventions. He handily won in front of the right-leaning crowd with over 70% of the vote. But those candidates will still appear on the primary ballot because they used the state's other path to the primary ballot and gathered signatures.
Former state lawmaker Becky Edwards garnered about 12% of the vote Saturday. Former gubernatorial deputy chief of staff Ally Isom came in third.
Lee's relationship with former president Donald Trump has been front and center since CNN reported on text messages showing that the senator was involved in early efforts to overturn the results of the 2020election, though Lee later pivoted and voted to confirm theelectionresults after no widespread fraud emerged.
“I did my job,” Lee said about the messages. “I did my job the way that I’ve always promised I would go about doing my job.”
McMullin is a former CIA officer ran for president in 2016 and made inroads in the deeply conservative state where where many GOP voters had reservations about then-candidate Trump. Lee himself cast a protest vote for McMullin, though he later became as staunch Trump ally, and the former president has endorsed him.
A Democrat ran for the nomination, Kael Weston, but the pro-McMullin camp ultimately convinced party delegates to nominate no one, clearing the path for the independent as much as possible. His supporters included prominent Democrats like former Congressman Ben McAdams.
“I know Evan. I trust Evan," McAdams told delegates during the contentious debate, framing McMullin as the best possible chance to unseat Lee in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats 4-to-1.
Republican Party Chair Carson Jorgensen took aim at the Democrats' decision, arguing it showed a weakness in the other party's platform. “We as Republicans, now’s our time to shine,” he said. “I don’t know if everyone quite understands the gravity of this.”
Also Saturday, moderate Republican Congressman John Curtis was forced into a primary, coming in second in a crowded field that included a challenger who brought in longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone. The effort didn't carry candidate Jason Preston beyond the first round of voting, however.
