An independent conservative presidential candidate with no national name recognition has statistically tied the two major-party candidates in Utah. The latest Rasmussen poll of Utah finds Republican Donald Trump with 30 percent support, independent Evan McMullin with 29 percent, and Democrat Hillary Clinton with 28 percent.
That’s the highest level of support in Utah for McMullin, who is Mormon and who has based his campaign in the heavily Mormon state, and the poll confirms a trend demonstrated by other recent polls that show him gaining on Trump and Clinton there.
The New York Times profiled McMullin and his long-shot bid for the White House. Here’s an excerpt from this weekend’s story:
He has little money and no major-party backing, and he is little known outside Utah, his home state. But lately, Mr. McMullin, 40, has been drawing big crowds in Utah and thousands of online supporters who see his moonshot run for president as a final refuge for “Never Trump” conservatives. Some polls show him turning the battle here into a three-way race with Mr. Trump and Hillary Clinton. “People come up and they just thank us for running, in a relieved sort of way,” Mr. McMullin said at his campaign offices on a tree-lined street in downtown Salt Lake City. “Some people say that they were praying for another option.” Continue reading the main stoMr. McMullin has almost no shot at winning the presidency. He is on only 11 state ballots and is bumping along the bottom of national polls — when pollsters even include his name in surveys. Because of state ballot deadlines, his recently named running mate, Mindy Finn, who worked on Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign, will not even be listed on those ballots. But Mr. McMullin might have a history-making moment in his reach. Growing discomfort with Mr. Trump among Mormon voters is offering the Provo-born graduate of Brigham Young University a tantalizing opportunity to capture Utah’s six electoral votes. No candidate outside a major party has won a state since George Wallace in 1968, and Democrats are also intensifying their efforts as the race here tightens.
Read the whole thing here.
