- Utah Republican Consultant John Curtis introduced that he won’t run to succeed retiring US Senator Mitt Romney, citing his perception that “we’d like elected leaders who care extra about doing their job than getting the following job” in Monday’s elections. Mr. Dr.
- Romney’s retirement has left the sphere huge open in Utah, a Republican stronghold. Introduced candidates embody Home Speaker Brad Wilson, Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, and Roosevelt Mayor Rod Byrd Jr.
- Curtis has represented Utah’s deep-red third Congressional District, which stretches from his native Provo to the Colorado border, since 2017.
U.S. Rep. John Curtis won’t run to succeed Mitt Romney, leaving the race to switch the nationally identified Utah senator removed from one of many state’s best-known Republicans.
“We’ve completed quite a bit, however my work for them is much from over,” Rep. John Curtis wrote in an op-ed Monday within the Deseret Information. “I imagine we’d like elected leaders who care extra about doing their job than getting the following job. To withdraw now would go away an unfilled dedication. I wish to end the job.”
Curtis, the 63-year-old former mayor of Provo, has served in Congress since 2017, received a particular election that yr and has been re-elected by a large margin ever since.
Utah Home Speaker jumps into Senate race to switch Romney: ‘Our nation just isn’t on the appropriate path’
Curtis emerged as a possible candidate after Romney, 76, introduced final month that he wouldn’t run for re-election. Romney mentioned he might be too previous by the point his second time period ends, and that younger folks have to step up and run.
This announcement opened a wider door to the Senate race subsequent yr and led to hypothesis about whether or not voters in Utah would select a reasonable politician like Romney or an excessive right-wing determine like the opposite US Senator from Utah, Mike Lee, a supporter of former President Donald Trump. Who’s operating once more for the Republican presidential nomination.
Utah Republican Rep. John Curtis speaks at an election evening occasion, Sandy, Utah, November 3, 2020. (AP Photograph/Rick Baumer, File)
Curtis was contemplating a run final week, when marketing campaign supervisor Adriel Herring mentioned inner polling was favorable and “every part factors” towards his candidacy.
He would have been a powerful contender for the place in Republican-dominated Utah, together with Republican Utah Home Speaker Brad Wilson, 54, who introduced his marketing campaign on Wednesday. In his announcement assembly, Wilson blamed President Joe Biden’s administration for inflation, immigration issues on the U.S.-Mexico border, and excessive gasoline costs.
Utah Republican raises greater than $2 million as he explores a ‘attainable’ bid for Romney’s Senate seat
Wilson has expressed curiosity in operating for a number of months, and has already raised $2.2 million, together with $1.2 million in private funds.
A bunch of lesser-known Republicans have additionally entered the race, together with Trent Staggs, the Riverton mayor and inventory investor who first introduced in Might; Rod Byrd Jr., mayor of the small city of Roosevelt in Utah and founding father of an oilfield provide firm.
Extra potential candidates embody Tim Ballard, founding father of the anti-child trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad. The group impressed a movie that was well-liked with conservative moviegoers final summer season, “Voice of Freedom,” whilst Ballard was kicked out of the group amid reviews of sexual misconduct. Ballard denies the allegations.
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The winner of subsequent yr’s Republican major on June 25 would be the favourite to win the final election in November. Republicans within the state outnumber Democrats greater than 3 to 1.