‘Candidate’ Begs for Followers to Help U.S. Senate Run, Is Promptly Told He Missed Filing Deadline
U.S. Senate “candidate” Austin Searle of Utah ended his “campaign” to unseat Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) Tuesday after he begged for Twitter followers, all the while he’d neglected to meet the deadline to file the necessary paperwork.
Searle first announced back in 2020 that he would run to be the state’s next senator. He vowed to offer Utahans a better future — one without Lee.
He will not challenge Lee, nor anyone else, as he was never running, he was informed on Monday night.
“I am not doing this for myself; I am doing this because I believe we can have a great future where we know we will be safe and more prepared if something worse than a coronavirus hits this state,” he stated on his campaign website. “I will not put our people in danger and do anything and everything I can to keep our people safe. I hope you will join me on this journey as we make history in 2022.”
Searle also declared, “I am running to unseat Mike Lee because Lee has not done anything for the state he is supposed to represent.”
The former musician also shared a polished campaign ad online, in which he ran on a platform of public safety and basic universal income.
⚠️ CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCEMENT ⚠️
Austin is announcing his campaign run for U.S. Senate to represent Utah.
I am running to fight for Cash relief, hope and to get things done! Utahns have been ignored for way too long! I am running to fight for Utahns. https://t.co/hk7GGNyC7k pic.twitter.com/nEiZSvTtXY
— Austin Searle (@AustinTSearle) December 28, 2020
Searle panhandled for Twitter followers on Twitter Monday evening:
I’m a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Utah to #UnseatMikeLee. I have 55,800 followers.
Can we hit 65k followers?
Yes Yes Yes
👇 👇 👇— Austin Searle (@AustinTSearle) March 7, 2022
Brad Townly, a Utah Democratic Party official, saw the tweet and informed Searle he was actually not running for anything, minus donations.
https://twitter.com/brad_townley/status/1501075057518411777
“Hi, I’m the Parliamentarian for the Utah Democratic Party,” he wrote. “You aren’t running for Senate, or any other office, in Utah. I know this because the candidate deadline was last Fri and you didn’t file. You must have forgotten to do that while you were busy grifting donations.”
Searle never replied to Townley directly, but he did update his followers with some news.
He had ended his “campaign”:
I have ended my run for U.S. Senate but any followers I gain is much appreciated. I did not realize that the deadline had passed to file papers with the state since I had been out due to health issues. Thanks for your understanding. I do really appreciate all of your support.
— Austin Searle (@AustinTSearle) March 8, 2022
