After securing the party nod in the June 25 Utah Republican Senate primary, Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) is now the clear favorite to succeed the retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) in the upcoming general election.
With four terms as a House representative under his belt, Mr. Curtis will go up against Democrat Caroline Gleich, an environmental-activist mountaineer, in the November general election. Gleich secured her party’s nomination in April without facing a primary challenge.
In a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats three-to-one, winners of Utah’s GOP primaries are strongly positioned to do well in the general elections. Not since 1970 has Utah elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate.
Mr. Curtis claimed victory with 51.6 percent of the vote, totaling 99,245 votes, swiftly after polls closed at 8:24 p.m. RMT. His opponents included Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs (28.1 percent), endorsed by former President Donald Trump, former Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson (14.1 percent), and entrepreneur Jason Walton (6.2 percent). The race was anticipated as a showdown between the moderate and MAGA factions of the GOP.
Mr. Curtis, a former Democrat and two-term mayor of Provo, won a special election in 2017 to fill the seat left by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). He is often seen as a moderate akin to Mr. Romney, who drew ire from Trump supporters for voting against the former president in the 2020 and 2021 impeachment trials.
Despite not endorsing former President Trump in Utah’s March 2024 primary caucus, Mr. Curtis emerged victorious. His wife was a vocal supporter of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the state.
On the other hand, Mr. Staggs, 49, who announced his candidacy months before Mr. Romney’s decision not to seek re-election, gained Trump’s endorsement on April 28. He secured two-thirds of the Republican convention vote soon after.
However, Mr. Staggs’ support for Trump and his criticism of Mr. Curtis as a Romney clone, founder of the Conservative Climate Caucus, and supporter of the Respect for Marriage Act, weren’t enough to sway Utah voters, who have historically leaned more moderate than party delegates.
The primary to succeed Mr. Romney initially featured 11 candidates, but only four made it to the ballot in April.
As the odds-on favorite since entering the race nearly a year after Mr. Staggs, Mr. Curtis maintained his lead despite President Trump’s endorsement and the state party’s support for the mayor.
According to a June survey by HarrisX for Deseret News and the University of Utah Hinckley Institute of Politics, Mr. Curtis held a significant lead over his opponents. This trend was evident in the June 25 vote.
Mr. Wilson led in fundraising, as per his June 5 FEC filing, while Mr. Curtis, Mr. Walton, and Mr. Staggs also reported their campaign finances.
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