Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, addresses CPAC, the national Conservative Political Action Conference, on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. According to the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics survey, Lee holds a two-point lead over independent challenger Evan McMullin. Photo: KSL NewsRadio
SALT LAKE CITY — With a little more than six weeks to go until election day, the U.S. Senate race in Utah between Utah Sen. Mike Lee and independent challenger Evan McMullin is growing tighter by the day.
According to the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics survey, Lee holds a slim two-point lead over McMullin. Of the Utahns surveyed, 36% said they would vote for Lee, while 34% said they would vote for McMullin.
Additionally, 16% of those surveyed are unsure of who they will vote for in the senate race, while 13% say they will vote for a different candidate.
McMullin told KSL that his campaign is encouraged by the poll numbers.
“Humbled by the support we have among Utahns from different political backgrounds,” McMullin said.
The poll of 815 registered Utah voters was conducted by Dan Jones & Associates from Sept. 3-21. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.43 percentage points.
Greg Hughes, former speaker of the Utah House and a representative of Sen. Lee’s campaign questioned the length of time the pollsters use to gather data.
“Everything goes live after Labor Day,” Hughes told KSL NewsRadio. “All the polls nationally? Their showing where candidates are moving in real time, within a week or so.
“I don’t understand an 18-day poll.”
As part of the poll, individuals were also asked, on a scale of one to five, how likely they are to vote in the November election. With one being definitely will vote and five being definitely will not vote. The survey found that the vast majority of voters will likely vote, including 83% who say they will definitely vote.