Lee leading McMullin by 4 points in Utah Senate race: poll

Incumbent Sen. Mike Lee (R) is leading Independent challenger Evan McMullin by 4 points in the Utah Senate race, according to a new Deseret News-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll.

The poll, conducted last week, found that 41 percent of the Utah voters surveyed say they will vote for Lee, while 37 percent say that they will vote for McMullin.

Two percent of those surveyed expressed support for Independent American candidate Tommy Williams and 1 percent for Libertarian James Arthur Hansen, while an additional 5 percent said they will write in another name.

Meanwhile, 12 percent were undecided on who they would vote for in the upcoming election, which will take place on Nov. 8.

The new poll, conducted by public polling company Dan Jones & Associates for Deseret News and the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute, surveyed 801 Utahns Oct 3-6 and has a margin of error of 3.46 percentage points.

Among those who say they will “definitely” vote in the election, Lee only leads McMullin by 2 percentage points, which is within the margin of error of 3.81 percentage points for that group.

McMullin, who ran for president in 2016 as an Independent, garnered 40 percent support among the 663 voters surveyed who say they will “definitely” vote in November, compared to Lee’s 42 percent.

“The Utah Senate race will be won on the frontlines by the candidate who can capture the ever-important base of moderate voters,” said Hinckley Institute Director Jason Perry in response to the survey results.

“Conservatives and liberals have largely made up their minds, now we’re going to see how the silent, moderate majority exerts their power.”

McMullin, a former Republican, was openly against then-candidate Donald Trump during his run for president in 2016. Trump has endorsed Lee in the Utah Senate race.

Despite a slightly higher percentage of voters surveyed in the Deseret News-Hinckley Institute poll saying they will vote for Lee, the poll found a larger proportion of respondents view the incumbent unfavorably than they do McMullin.

Forty-two percent of those surveyed said that they have a favorable opinion of McMullin, compared to 40 percent who are favorable toward Lee.

Meanwhile, almost half — 47 percent — of voters said they have an unfavorable opinion of Lee, while only 30 percent said the same of McMullin.