Sen. Mike Lee unexpectedly inserted himself into the Republican primary in Utah’s 2nd Congressional District with a last-minute endorsement of Colby Jenkins over first-term incumbent Celeste Maloy. Both campaigns are using that endorsement as a fundraising tool — and so is Lee.
Lee’s last-minute endorsement of Jenkins helped him come within 26 votes of knocking Maloy out of the race at April’s GOP nominating convention. Maloy survived, forcing a primary election on June 25.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Congressional candidate Colby Jenkins at the Utah Republican Nominating Convention in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 27, 2024.
Lee is hitting the campaign trail with Jenkins and helping him raise much-needed campaign cash. According to the latest Federal Election Commission financial disclosures, Jenkins had just under $170,000 in his campaign account compared to nearly $290,000 for Maloy.
“I’m doing everything I can to help him immediately, doing everything I can to help him raise money,” Lee said to attendees at a Memorial Day town hall meeting in Washington County. “In all probability, he’s going to be outspent. It’s okay. We don’t have to have the most money. We just have to have enough.”
What Lee didn’t say is that some of his fundraising efforts on behalf of Jenkins will boost his own campaign war chest, too.
A recent fundraising email from Lee’s campaign praised Jenkins and urged recipients to make a donation “to ensure Utah and America gets the Republican congressman we desperately need.” The email linked to a donation page featuring a video of Lee and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul endorsing Jenkins.
What’s not immediately apparent to donors is that, unless they specify otherwise, Lee’s campaign takes a 10% cut from any donations collected on behalf of Jenkins. Donors can change how their contribution is divided, or not divided, among the campaigns, but that takes an extra step.
This is not the first time Lee has piggybacked off another Republican to stuff his campaign coffers. In 2022, Lee sent out fundraising appeals for Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker. Unless donors changed that split, Lee’s campaign kept half of the cash he raised for Walker.
Jenkins’ campaign did not respond to questions from The Salt Lake Tribune about the fundraising split with Lee. The senator also did not respond to a request for comment.
Lee’s involvement in the race is also being used as a fundraising tool for Jenkins’ primary election opponent.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy campaigns at the Utah Republican Nominating Convention in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 27, 2024.
A recent fundraising email from Maloy’s campaign takes a shot at Lee inserting himself into the race on behalf of Jenkins.
“We need to decide whether we are going to let one person dictate Utah’s politics,” the email reads, echoing Maloy’s comments at April’s GOP convention.
“I’m not going to bow down to the party, to leadership, to the media or to a senator,” Maloy said.
Maloy’s campaign declined to comment when contacted by The Tribune.
