Presidential Candidate Evan McMullin (standing near center in a blue coat) and his running mate Mindy Finn spoke to supporters at Malena’s Café in Ephraim during a visit to the county last Saturday. – Matt Harris / Messenger photo
Presidential candidate McMullin visited Sanpete last Saturday
Matt Harris
Staff writer
11-10-2016
EPHRAIM—Budding presidential candidate Evan McMullin visited Sanpete County last Saturday, being warmly welcomed by a host of supporters.
The candidate, alongside his running mate Mindy Finn, hosted a meet ‘n’ greet with Sanpete County voters and supporters at Malena’s Café in Ephraim.
“We’re trying to get to everywhere in Utah,” McMullin said. “We’re trying to touch every town we can. We’re on our way down to St. George today, and we thought it was important to stop here, just to meet people, so that people have face-to-face interaction with us, not only seeing us on television or hearing us on the radio but actually meeting us in person.”
Roughly 70 supporters showed up to meet McMullin and Finn, nearly filling the small café to capacity. Malena’s Café moved their restaurant into a brand new building across from Subway on Sept. 21, and its owners were excited to host the event.
While the social event was more of a lunch break for the traveling candidates, McMullin and Finn both took the time to address their loyal supporters who had come out to meet them. “Right now, both Trump and Clinton are struggling to get above 270 electoral votes,” McMullin said. “We must prevail here in Utah to give ourselves a chance of stopping the poll, but it’s not just about Election Day. It’s about building a new conservative movement that will be dedicated to the truth that all men and women are created equal, to the cause of liberty, which means limited government and returning power to the people. These are the things that we need to fight for. It’s regrettable that in 2016, Mindy and I have to focus so much on this idea that we’re all created equal. We can provide this country the leadership that it needs.”
McMullin and Finn are currently locked in a tight three-way battle for the presidential race in the state of Utah with Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Utah, historically the most Republican state in America, showed a general distaste for the controversial Republican candidate early on, when Trump garnered a mere 14 percent of the Republican vote in the Utah primaries, two points behind John Kasich.
While Clinton can garner the typical 25-30% of the vote in Utah, the usual numbers for Democrats in Utah polls, Trump’s unpopularity among Utahns has left many Republicans looking elsewhere. McMullin’s conservative platform and level-headed approach have captured the support of many staunch Utah Republicans.
McMullin chose Finn as his running mate in early October. Finn is the president and co-founder of the organization Women Empowered, which aims to foster discussion about feminism. Finn, in the past, has worked with Mitt Romney and George W. Bush, and also worked for Google and Twitter.
“I’m proud to be on the ticket,” Finn said.
Finn emphasized the nature of the McMullin campaign strategy and purpose as she addressed the crowd.
Finn said,“Our strategy is that, if the election is close, by getting Utah’s six electoral votes, we have blocked both of these unfit leaders from winning the White House. We can take this election to the House and win it ourselves instead.”
