WASHINGTON — Utah’s senior senator continues to enjoy mostly favorable ratings among Utah voters, according to the most recent poll conducted by HarrisX for the Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics.
A plurality of voters approve of Mike Lee, with 46% finding the senior senator favorable compared to 33% who said they have an unfavorable view of him. Only 8% say they’ve never heard of Lee with another 13% saying they have no opinion, according to the poll.
Lee is particularly popular among Republican voters in the state, the polling shows. A majority of those who said they approved of Lee identified as Republican (65%) compared to just 20% of Democrats. On the other hand, Democrats were far more likely to say they disapproved of Lee compared to Republicans, 61% vs. 17%.
Lee, who has been in the Senate since 2011, is widely known across the state, according to the poll, with only 8% of respondents saying they do not know who he is. Another 13% said they had no opinion.
Much of Lee’s reputation could be attributed to his personal X account with the handle @BasedMikeLee. There, the senator posts dozens of times a day, responding to a range of topics both political and personal.
Lee has also established himself as a close ally to President Donald Trump, giving him outsize influence in the Senate Republican conference. Lee has appeared alongside Trump at several events, and he was even given a high-profile speaking slot at last summer’s Republican National Convention.
Just last month, Trump gave Lee a shoutout at a press event to compliment his haircut: “I love his new haircut. I love that haircut, Mike. You just said, ‘The hell with it.’”
Now, Lee serves on a number of powerful committees, such as the Judiciary and Budget committees, and was recently tapped as chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
In that position, Lee holds jurisdiction over the departments of Energy and Interior, overseeing issues related to energy, conservation and public lands.
“Humbled and honored to take the gavel as the next Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee,” Lee wrote in a statement last year when his position was announced. “Time to get to work and unleash American energy.”
The recent polling shows favorable conditions for Lee just three months into Republicans’ newfound trifecta in Washington. Trump also has high favorability in the Beehive State, with 59% of voters saying they find him favorable compared to 37% who said the opposite, according to the poll. Only 4% said they have no opinion.
The poll was conducted Feb. 14-15 by HarrisX among 805 registered Utah voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.