Mark Hamill to stump for Utah Senate candidate Evan McMullin

Actor Mark Hamill will stump for Utah Senate hopeful Evan McMullin (I) later this week with less than a month to go before the November midterms, McMullin’s campaign announced Tuesday.

The “Star Wars” actor will join a virtual volunteer kickoff event on Thursday, a press advisory said. McMullin is running against Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) in a race the nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates as “likely Republican.”

“The Force is with us! As a huge Star Wars fan, I welcome support from a Jedi in this critical fight. I’m also grateful to Mark for his endorsement in this race – he recognizes how vital it is we bring change to Washington. Our politics are broken, and our leaders must be willing to find common ground in order to solve our mounting problems,” McMullin said in a statement.

“Evan is a force for change at a time when our country desperately needs it. Utah is a great state and deserves far better than Mike Lee. Evan McMullin is the right man for this job – for Utah and for our country,” Hamill said in his own statement endorsing the candidate.

Recent polling suggests that McMullin, a former CIA officer, could be closing the gap against Lee, who’s serving his second term as senator in Utah.

A Deseret News-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, released on Tuesday showed Lee leading McMullin by 4 percentage points among registered Utah voters at 41 percent to 37 percent.

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