Rep. Curtis Wins Utah GOP Senate Primary in Race for Romney’s Seat
4-term Home consultant bests Republican rivals, together with Trump-endorsed mayor, to safe get together nod as overwhelming fall favourite in deep-red state.
Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) has received the June 25 Utah Republican Senate major and is the overwhelming favourite to succeed the retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) in fall’s basic election.
Mr. Curtis, who served 4 phrases within the Home earlier than saying his bid for the Senate in early 2024, will sq. off in opposition to Democrat Caroline Gleich, an environmental-activist mountaineer who secured the Nov. 5 berth in her get together’s April conference and not using a major problem.
In a state the place registered Republican voters outnumber Democrats three-to-one, winners in Utah’s GOP primaries are near-locks to advance basically elections.
Utah hasn’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1970.
Mr. Curtis had notched 51.6 % of the tally, 99,245 votes, when the Related Press known as the race at 8:24 p.m. Rocky Mountain Time (RMT), lower than a half hour after polls closed.
He outpolled Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs (28.1 % when AP known as the race)—who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump—former Utah Home Speaker Brad Wilson (14.1 %), and entrepreneur Jason Walton (6.2 %) in a race many nationwide analysts previewed as a conflict between the average and MAGA wings of the GOP.
Mr. Curtis, a former Democrat and two-term mayor of Provo, received a 2017 particular election to succeed Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) within the Home.
He’s extensively seen as a average within the mildew of Mr. Romney, the previous Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP presidential nominee, who incurred the wrath of Trump supporters when he voted to convict the previous president in 2020 and 2021 impeachment trials.
Mr. Curtis, 64, didn’t help former President Trump throughout Utah’s March 5, 2024 major caucus.
Whereas he was not a outstanding presence within the fray, which former President Trump dominated in nailing down the GOP nomination, his spouse was amongst former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s most vocal Beehive State supporters.
Mr. Staggs, 49, who introduced his candidacy 9 months earlier than Mr. Romney revealed in September 2023 that he wouldn’t search a second Senate time period, was endorsed by former President Trump on April 28.
Hours later, he notched two-thirds of the Republican conference vote to safe the get together’s backing.
His help for former President Trump and criticism of Mr. Curtis as a Romney clone, the founding father of the Conservative Local weather Caucus, and “sure” vote for the Respect for Marriage Act, have been key elements of his marketing campaign.
However Utah voters, though overwhelmingly Republican, have traditionally been extra average in voting patterns than state get together conference delegates.
Whereas former President Trump constantly polls 20-to-30 % above President Joe Biden in surveys—impartial candidate Robert F. Kennedy polls greater than the incumbent Democrat—the endorsement was not sufficient to spice up the relativity little-known mayor to victory.
The GOP major to succeed Mr. Romney as soon as featured 11 hopefuls however solely 4 certified for the poll after April’s Republican major.
Mr. Wilson, 55, whereas pledging help for former President Trump, emphasised his low-key, no-drama effectiveness in transferring laws in representing his constituents, pointing to his 2011–2023 tenure in Utah’s home and ascension to speaker.
Utah’s U.S. Senate election is for one in all 34 senior chamber seats on 2024 ballots throughout the nation, together with 11 held by GOP incumbents.
It’s not among the many key battles in figuring out which get together will management the Senate in January 2025. Democrats now have a 51–49 majority.
Mr. Curtis was the odds-on favourite from the second he entered the race, almost a 12 months after Mr. Staggs did, and remained so regardless of President Trump’s endorsement and state get together backing for the mayor.
In accordance with a June 4–6 survey of 469 probably voters by HarrisX for Deseret Information and the College of Utah Hinckley Institute of Politics, Mr. Curtis notched 47 % of the tally, eclipsing Mr. Wilson at 24 %, Mr. Staggs at 21 %, and Mr. Walton at 8 %. That sample proved indicative within the June 25 vote.
Mr. Wilson led in fundraising, in response to his June 5 Federal Elections Fee (FEC) submitting, elevating $4.988 million—together with important self-funded contributions—spending $4.434 million with $554,000 within the financial institution.
Mr. Curtis’s June 5 FEC submitting confirmed $3.7 million raised, $3.522 million spent, $575,865 cash-on-hand; Mr. Walton elevating $2.79 million, together with self-funding, $2.532 million spent, $262,000 within the financial institution; Mr. Staggs elevating $1.14 million, spending $765,000, with $375,249 cash-on-hand.