Democrat Kael Weston sought his party’s nomination, but a group of party members supportive of McMullin, including former Democratic congressman Ben McAdams, convinced delegates not to nominate anyone, thus allowing McMullin, a former CIA officer, to get as much support as possible.
McMullin attracted a significant chunk of support — 22 percent — from Utah conservatives looking for an alternative to Trump in 2016 — including Lee, then a vocal critic of the former president. Given that Utah has not sent a Democrat to the Senate in more than half a century, some party members concluded that McMullin was their best shot at defeating Lee, a die-hard Trump supporter.
