Evan McMullin. Odds are you haven’t heard of him before. On Aug. 8, McMullin announced he would run for president as an Independent candidate backed by the Better For America super PAC. He claims to be, in his own words, “a real conservative” and an alternative to Republican candidate Donald Trump. A former CIA operative from Utah, McMullin is currently polling at 30 percent in his home state. For context, current leader in Utah Donald Trump has approximately 32 percent in polls, and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has 24 percent support, putting McMullin within the margin of error of the poll.

McMullin is a devout Mormon and has stolen support from Trump with the assistance of 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Romney is a fellow Mormon who is very popular in the state. McMullin’s policies are socially and economically conservative.

Abortion:

McMullin is pro-life and believes that the Roe v. Wade decision should be repealed. Roe v. Wade guarantees the right for women to have abortions, and leaves abortion regulation to the state legislatures.

LGBTQ Rights:

McMullin personally is against the 2015 Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage, but respects the decision. On the trail, McMullin said that the country should “move on”.

Foreign Policy:

McMullin is very critical of the Iran Nuclear Deal. He said “”We’ve got to certainly enforce the deal as it is, but I believe in strengthening sanctions on Iran to force them to make further concessions. I also believe in putting the military option clearly back on the table if Iran decides to not keep its end of the deal and if it ultimately decides to pursue nuclear weapons.” He believes that the United States should do more to prevent “Assad’s slaughter of innocent Syrians” in the ongoing Syrian Civil War. He also denounced Trump’s accusations against Muslims and his “allegiance to Russia”.

What this means for the election as a whole is that Utah might be out of the game for both Trump and Clinton. This will likely help Clinton much more than it will help Trump. If McMullin was not running for president, Trump would be expected to take Utah. If McMullin does win the state, that is six fewer electoral votes for the Republican nominee. While third party candidates may not have a chance to be elected president, they can affect the election. Evan McMullin has proved this, and is acknowledged as a real opponent for Utah’s six electoral votes.

For more information on McMullin’s policies, visit <ontheissues.org/Evan_McMullin.htm>