he did in that tape. reporter: enter mcmullen, autonative, practicing mormon, former cia officer, and capitol hill staffer. what he lacks in national profile, he s made up for in increasing momentum in the state. steadily creeping up in the polls for months, trump s tape has sparked a moment for mcmullen and his running mate, mindy finn, one that has them leading in the state, according to at least one recent pull. what you ll tell us is you re offering us a glimmer of light. a single-state strategy is hardly a recipe for electoral success, but mcmullin s goals are two-fold. first, open the door to this exceedingly unlikely scenario. we ve said if this race is very, very close between donald trump and hillary clinton, we could block them both. reporter: but second, given recent polling, create an alternative for those turned off by trump. if hillary clinton is
a single-state strategy is hardly a recipe for electoral success, but mcmullin s goals are two-fold. first, open the door to this exceedingly unlikely scenario. we ve said if this race is very, very close between donald trump and hillary clinton, we could block them both. reporter: but second, given recent polling, create an alternative for those turned off by trump. if hillary clinton is dominating donald trump, what the outcome here in utah and ore states doesn t matter quite as much. we re saying, even in that case, stand on principle, stand for what you know is right, stand for the kind of leadership you would actually like to see in this country and let s build from there. phil joins me now. hillary clinton is also close in the polls in utah. what s her team doing out there? yeah, that s exactly right. evan mcmullin is not the only one who sees possibilities here. hillary clinton s team opened an office in the state, sent a field staffer here in august.