Hard pivot toward Trump proves costly for red-state ally

Like many GOP primaries this year, the challenge to Sen. Mike Lee in Utah turns on the question of fealty to Donald Trump. Unlike in most of those primaries, however, the issue isn’t whether he’s loyal enough. It’s whether he’s gone too far.

In most red states, that wouldn’t be a problem. But in Utah, where many Republicans continue to harbor reservations about Trump’s character, the appearance that Lee has bent over backwards to curry favor with the former president is complicating his bid for a third term.

Lee’s predicament is a reflection of Utah’s singular politics. But it’s also a test of the limits of Trump’s appeal in one of the most conservative states in the nation.

“Utah has a very different political culture here. Navigating that can be difficult,” Carson Jorgensen, chair of the state’s Republican Party, said. “The culture is very much influenced by their friends and neighbors and faith, and we are very tight knit communities.”

The two leading Republican challengers to Lee — former state legislator Becky Edwards and communications specialist Ally Isom — both campaign on the premise that Utahns are collectively disgruntled with Lee and ready for fresh leadership.