PROVO, Utah (AP) — Utah’s Evan McMullin is emerging as the nation’s most competitive independent candidate running for U.S. Senate in the 2022 midterm elections. With both parties jockeying for control of Congress, the former Republican’s bid against Donald Trump ally Mike Lee has transformed the reliably Republican state from electoral afterthought into potential battleground. McMullin ran for president as an independent in 2016 and is focusing his campaign this year on similar themes: casting Trump and his allies like Lee as threats to democracy. Win or lose, his performance will indicate how much appetite red states have for Trump critics as the president mulls running again in 2024.