Lee v. McMullin - Bio Comparison

 Now that Mike Lee has managed to keep the GOP Senate nomination, it is time to compare and contrast Mr. Lee with Mr. McMullin. 

For today, let's stick to two biographical aspects: net worth and careers:

There is available net worth information on Lee from 2010 to 2018 from opensecrets.com. In 2010, his net worth was 16,000 dollars. Not surprising since he had to short sale his Alpine home before running for Senate - I assumed he was overly leveraged at that time. Since that time, his net worth has risen to a high of 539,000 in 2016, and from there down to 414,000 in 2018. His net worth has multiplied exponentially as a senator, but it is still smaller than the average net worth of most senators. If he is profiting from his office, he is not as bad as many other members of Congress or members of the Senate.

Evan McMullin's net worth information is less available. I found a few generic hits, the top result came from a website called celebritynetworth.com (reliable?) with a net worth of 1 million dollars. Not sure if that should be considered high or not. The largest chunk of his career is in public service. He may have been a good saver, he may have made a large chuck on cash working for Goldman Sachs, not sure what to make of a net worth figure of that amount.

Mike Lee's education and career. He is a graduate of BYU for both his BA in Political Science, and his Juris Doctorate. He attended BYU while his father was president of the university. His career has included multiple clerkships, first for a year under Judge Dee Benson in Utah right out of school, and two stints as Samuel Alito's clerk, once early in his career while Alito was an appeals court judge for a year, and then before he was elected to the senate while Alito was a new member of the Supreme Court. He also served for three years as an Assistant US Attorney in Utah, and as general counsel to Governor Huntsman for one year. Looks like he spent roughly 6 years in private practice. His most notable case I can see is when he represented Energy Solutions in its quest to accept Italian nuclear waste in violation of agreements the company signed with the state of Utah.  Yes this is from Wikipedia.

Evan McMullin's education includes a Bachelors from BYU in international law and diplomacy, and a MBA from Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania. His career seemed heavily geared towards the CIA. While at BYU he interned with the CIA each summer, his degree is focused internationally, and that was the first job he took. He worked from the CIA as an operations officer from 2001-2010. He attended Wharton after the CIA and worked for Goldman Sachs for a year and half, worked for the Romney campaign in 2012 and then was recruited for the House Committee on  Foreign Affairs where he worked from 2013-2015. His highest position was chief policy director for the House Republican Conference when he resigned to start his 2016 presidential campaign. After the elections, it appears that the 501(c)(4) he created "Stand Up Republic" has been his primary occupation. Again a Wikipedia article.

Observations:

Mike Lee has had a very (let's say) mobile career - spending 3-4 years at a maximum in any job besides senator. In his non-elected career, he does not seem to have enjoyed much upward mobility seeming to move laterally through most job changes. I am not sure on his success as a student - could not obtain class rankings. He graduated from a major university, but he was also the son of the university president and a former US solicitor general. It would be hard to deny that he likely benefited from some privilege as a student at BYU. Did that play into his success at school? Maybe, maybe not. 

Evan McMullin's CIA career is not exactly a negative or a positive. He apparently was at least adequate at his job - staying in the CIA for 9+ years. However, of government jobs, CIA is not one of the most respected agencies in my view - just a step higher than the IRS. However, after the time in the CIA he has had a few decent career moves. Apparently, Goldman Sachs did not suit him, but he was well suited to serve the US Congress as an international affairs advisor (rising to the level of chief policy director of the House Republican Conference). In regards to education, I would assume he must have had an impressive transcript to be given CIA internships every year of his education. While the CIA (as an agency) is a little smarmy, they are (from my understanding) generally picky on their recruits and he must have proved himself to be given a position.