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Ally Isom, Becky Edwards trade barbs in Utah’s U.S. Senate primary race

Isom called for Edwards to drop out of the race during a television interview.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) U.S. Senate candidates Ally Isom, left, and Becky Edwards. Isom called on Edwards to withdraw from the race ahead of the June primary election. Edwards responded by hitting Isom over her lack of experience.

Republicans Becky Edwards and Ally Isom threw verbal elbows at each other as they fought to position themselves as the best candidate to unseat incumbent Sen. Mike Lee in the June primary election.

During a Wednesday interview with KUTV-Channel 2, Isom called for Edwards to drop out of the race, claiming she was best suited to defeat Lee.

“I’m in this race for the long haul,” Isom told KUTV.

Edwards’ campaign fired back Thursday morning, saying she was the “leading Republican challenger in the race” while hitting Isom for her lack of experience in the political arena.

Lee cruised to an easy win at Saturday’s GOP convention, capturing more than 70% of the delegate vote. Edwards pulled in 11.77% to Isom’s 9.66%. Just 3,705 delegates voted on Saturday, which is less than one-half of one percent of active registered Republican voters in Utah, making it difficult to extrapolate what might happen during the June primary election. The difference between Edwards and Isom on Saturday was just 78 votes.

There was speculation that Isom might drop out of the race after her third-place finish at the GOP convention, which she shot down immediately when asked.

“I am the only conservative alternative in this race. I am on the June ballot because thousands of Utahns support our message and vision for this country. After walking in more than 120 Utah communities, I want to make sure those Utahns have a choice and a voice,” Isom told The Salt Lake Tribune in a text message.

Both Edwards and Isom are far behind Lee in fundraising. Lee has more than $2.4 million in campaign cash on hand. Edwards’ most recent financial disclosure shows her with $286,000 in the bank, while Isom reported just over $97,000.

The three candidates will meet on the debate stage on June 2.

This is the first primary election for Lee since 2010, when he slipped past Tim Bridgewater by just over 4,700 votes.

The primary election is on June 28. The winner faces independent Evan McMullin, who got a boost after Utah Democrats decided not to nominate a candidate and back McMullin.