OREM — The first and only debate of the Senate race between incumbent Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and independent challenger Evan McMullin turned out to be a raucous affair on Monday evening.
As expected, McMullin used the event to air his long list of political grievances against Lee. Predictably, Lee came prepared to loudly deny those accusations.
Their exchange was occasionally interrupted by jeers, cheers and applause from a live audience of Utah Valley University students, despite having been admonished by moderator Doug Wright to hold their reactions.
Both candidates attempted to evade the first question about “what’s one good thing you would bring to Utah?,” instead choosing to launch into prepared remarks. After being called for dodging the question, they straightened up and flew right for the rest of the debate.
Lee stubbornly refused to condemn television ads by political action committees attacking McMullin’s credibility, saying that factual campaign ads he endorsed were the only ones that he was responsible for.
Lee also stuck to his guns on the 2020 election.
“Yes, Joe Biden is our president,” Lee said. “He was chosen by the only election that matters, the election by the Electoral College …
“As to whether there were errors, as to whether some states might have conducted their elections better than others, there’s always room for debate and questions about that.”
“For you to talk about the importance of the Electoral College, I think, is rich,” McMullin countered. “I think you knew how important it was when you sought to urge the White House that had lost an election to find fake electors to overturn the will of the people …
“Sen. Lee, that was the most egregious betrayal of our nation’s Constitution in history by a U.S. Senator. I believe it will be your legacy.”
“Evan, that’s not true,” Lee replied. “You know it’s not true. You, sir, owe me an apology.”
Fat chance.
In discussing the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill, McMullin charged that Lee was one of the co-conspirators behind that insurrection, a danger to democracy and his actions were a “… betrayal of the American republic.”
“There’s not a scintilla of evidence suggesting that,” Lee insisted. “Yet you continue to insist that with a cavalier, reckless disregard for the truth. This is sad. This is troubling.”
Eventually, Wright was able to bring the debate around to discussion of policy issues.
On the future of Social Security and Medicare, the candidates remarkably found common ground.
“I believe that Social Security and Medicare are important elements of our social fabric in America,” McMullin explained. “I’ll work with anybody who wants to ensure our seniors’ future.
“I think the biggest challenge right now is our fiscal irresponsibility in this country. Again, I’m talking about both parties.”
Lee agreed, adding that those programs need to be reformed “… to make it more difficult for Congress to raid seniors’ money.”
On President Biden’s student loan forgiveness, Lee said that the federal government should get out of the student loan business entirely.
“I still think that the federal government does have a role to play,” McMullin said in a more nuanced response, “especially for low-income students or for people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford higher education.”
But McMullin also acknowledged that the federal government has “…contributed to inflation of the worst kind in higher education and we have to reform that to bring prices down.”
In his closing remarks, McMullin repeated his campaign mantra that our politics are broken and that party bosses have too much influence and money to be trusted. He promised that, if elected, nothing would get through the Senate without Utah’s support.
“With that influence,” he argued, addressing Utah voters, “we would do a tremendous good not only for ourselves but also for the country.”
In his final remarks, Lee dismissed McMullin as an “opportunistic gadfly supported by the Democratic Party.”
“You know who I am,” Lee said. “You know what I fight for …
“I love our country and our state and I humbly ask for your vote.”
Lee and McMullin will face off in the general election on Nov. 8.
The senate debate was sponsored by the Utah Debate Commission.
The Utah Debate Commission is a consortium of higher educational institutions, media organizations and business and civic leaders dedicated to creating a non-partisan and independent system of debates among qualified candidates for statewide and federal offices in Utah during each election cycle.