By Rebecca Kheel - 10/15/16 04:23 PM EDT
Evan McMullin just might become the first person since 1968 to win a state while not running as either the Republican or Democratic nominee.
McMullin, a conservative who is running as an independent opposed to both Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, is in a solid position to win his home state of Utah.
“I do think he is an incredibly strong position to win the state,” said Boyd Matheson, president of conservative Utah think tank the Sutherland Institute and former chief of staff to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).
A poll published Tuesday by the Salt Lake City-based Y2 Analytics found Trump and Clinton tied at 26 percent in Utah. McMullin took 22 percent — within the margin of error of 4.4 percent.
McMullin is uniquely positioned to do well in the largely Republican and Mormon state. He’s a Mormon himself with conservative bona fides in a state that hasn’t voted for a Democrat since 1964.
Polls suggest Mormons have long been uncomfortable with Trump.
A 2005 tape of Trump speaking lewdly about groping and kissing women — and subsequent reports from women who say they’ve been attacked by Trump — appear to have been a breaking point.
“The best way I can describe it is when someone has a fever and they’re flailing about and they’re frustrated and then the fever breaks,” said Matheson. “The country has been in fever, and I think Utah, because it has a great economy and civil society, that fever broke here first.
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http://thehill.com/policy/defense/301062-independent-may-make-history-in-utah
