On Tuesday, the conservative Club for Growth stepped up its assault on independent U.S. Senate candidate Evan McMullin, vowing to continue pouring money into advertising in the Beehive State.
So far, Club for Growth and its related political action committee has spent more than $2.2 million in Utah’s U.S. Senate race this cycle, with nearly all of that going toward ads attacking McMullin, an independent running against Republican Sen. Mike Lee.
“We think it’s critical Mike Lee win this race and win it handily. We will continue to spend to bring Utah voters the truth about Mike Lee and Evan McMullin,” Club for Growth president David McIntosh said during a Tuesday afternoon teleconference.
Last week, McMullin’s campaign sued the Club for Growth and several Utah television stations over an ad he claimed is “deceptive.” In the ad, McMullin’s comments during an appearance on CNN in 2017 are edited so that he says, “the Republican base is racist — these bigots.”
McIntosh defended the ad on Tuesday, saying McMullin was attempting to mislead voters.
“He’s not the person he says he is, despite claims to be a nonpartisan independent. He’s frankly acting like a Democrat, and he’s attacked the Republican Party whenever possible,” McIntosh said.
Utah attorney Brent Hatch, who is representing Club for Growth, claimed McMullin’s lawsuit violated the First Amendment’s free speech protections.
“They’re using this case in an attempt to censor Club for Growth and, more importantly, to intimidate the Utah television stations,” Hatch said.
During Tuesday’s call, McIntosh said his group jumped into the Lee-McMullin fray in response to pro-McMullin outside groups spending in Utah. The Put Utah First PAC has spent more than $2.5 million on the race.
“We’re spending because we see other spending in this race against Mike, and we feel he needs to have us there to help make that choice very clear to Utah voters,” McIntosh said.
However, Club for Growth has been planning to support Lee in the general election for several months. In May, the group reserved approximately $1.6 million in advertising time for commercials scheduled to begin in August.
Lee and his supporters have frequently criticized McMullin for saying he would not caucus with either Republicans or Democrats if he wins in November, claiming that would keep him from being assigned to any committees.
On Saturday, Lee changed his line of attack, claiming McMullin would caucus with Democrats. Lee did not cite any evidence McMullin would caucus with Democrats but said his decision not to join Republicans only leaves Democrats as an option.
“He’s become the Democratic candidate in this race. He’s endorsed by the Utah Democratic Party. So even though he calls himself an independent, calling yourself that doesn’t make yourself that if, in fact, you’re the Democrats’ guy,” Lee told Breitbart.
On Tuesday, McIntosh echoed Lee’s claim that McMullin was a Democrat in independent clothing, lumping him in with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“You look at the folks who run as independents, people like Bernie Sanders. They say they’re independent, but they end up being part of the Democrat majority. I think Evan’s unwillingness to say he’ll join the Republicans means he gives the Democrats the ability to control the Senate because he won’t be there voting for Mitch McConnell to be the Senate leader,” McIntosh said.
This isn’t the first time Club for Growth has stepped in to support Lee. Last summer the group’s PAC sent mailers attacking Republicans Becky Edwards and Ally Isom as they were considering challenging Lee for the Republican nomination.
Club for Growth’s PAC has raked in more than $61 million ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. That includes more than $22 million from billionaire Richard Uihlein. The $2.2 million Club for Growth Action has put toward attacking McMullin is only the sixth most they’ve spent on a single race this year. They’ve dropped more than $10.4 million opposing Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race and another $1 million supporting Republican Adam Laxalt.
The television ads aren’t the only avenue the Club for Growth is taking to attack McMullin. The Crypto Freedom super PAC has spent nearly $250,000 sending anti-McMullin mailers to Utah voters. That PAC is openly allied with Club for Growth, which has donated more than $2 million to them this cycle.
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