Rep. Curtis Wins Utah GOP Senate Primary in Race for Romney’s Seat

Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) has won the June 25 Utah Republican Senate primary and is the overwhelming favorite to succeed the retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) in fall’s general election.

Mr. Curtis, who served four terms in the House before announcing his bid for the Senate in early 2024, will square off against Democrat Caroline Gleich, an environmental-activist mountaineer who secured the Nov. 5 berth in her party’s April convention without a primary challenge.

In a state where registered Republican voters outnumber Democrats three-to-one, winners in Utah’s GOP primaries are near-locks to advance in general elections.

Utah hasn’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1970.

Mr. Curtis had notched 51.6 percent of the tally, 99,245 votes, when the Associated Press called the race at 8:24 p.m. Rocky Mountain Time (RMT), less than a half hour after polls closed.

He outpolled Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs (28.1 percent when AP called the race)—who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump—former Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson (14.1 percent), and entrepreneur Jason Walton (6.2 percent) in a race many national analysts previewed as a clash between the moderate and MAGA wings of the GOP.

Mr. Curtis, a former Democrat and two-term mayor of Provo, won a 2017 special election to succeed Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) in the House.

He is widely viewed as a moderate in the mold of Mr. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP presidential nominee, who incurred the wrath of Trump supporters when he voted to convict the former president in 2020 and 2021 impeachment trials.

Mr. Curtis, 64, did not support former President Trump during Utah’s March 5, 2024 primary caucus.

While he was not a prominent presence in the fray, which former President Trump dominated in nailing down the GOP nomination, his wife was among former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s most vocal Beehive State supporters.

Mr. Staggs, 49, who announced his candidacy nine months before Mr. Romney revealed in September 2023 that he would not seek a second Senate term, was endorsed by former President Trump on April 28.

Hours later, he notched two-thirds of the Republican convention vote to secure the party’s backing.

His support for former President Trump and criticism of Mr. Curtis as a Romney clone, the founder of the Conservative Climate Caucus, and “yes” vote for the Respect for Marriage Act, were key components of his campaign.

But Utah voters, although overwhelmingly Republican, have historically been more moderate in voting patterns than state party convention delegates.

While former President Trump consistently polls 20-to-30 percent above President Joe Biden in surveys—independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy polls higher than the incumbent Democrat—the endorsement was not enough to boost the relativity little-known mayor to victory.

The GOP primary to succeed Mr. Romney once featured 11 hopefuls but only four qualified for the ballot after April’s Republican primary.

Mr. Wilson, 55, while pledging support for former President Trump, emphasized his low-key, no-drama effectiveness in moving legislation in representing his constituents, pointing to his 2011–2023 tenure in Utah’s house and ascension to speaker.

Utah’s U.S. Senate election is for one of 34 senior chamber seats on 2024 ballots across the country, including 11 held by GOP incumbents.

It is not among the key battles in determining which party will control the Senate in January 2025. Democrats now have a 51–49  majority.

Mr. Curtis was the odds-on favorite from the moment he entered the race, nearly a year after Mr. Staggs did, and remained so despite President Trump’s endorsement and state party backing for the mayor.

According to a June 4–6 survey of 469 likely voters by HarrisX for Deseret News and the University of Utah Hinckley Institute of Politics, Mr. Curtis notched 47 percent of the tally, eclipsing Mr. Wilson at 24 percent, Mr. Staggs at 21 percent, and Mr. Walton at 8 percent. That pattern proved indicative in the June 25 vote.

Mr. Wilson led in fundraising, according to his June 5 Federal Elections Commission (FEC) filing, raising $4.988 million—including significant self-funded contributions—spending $4.434 million with $554,000 in the bank.

Mr. Curtis’s June 5 FEC filing showed $3.7 million raised, $3.522 million spent, $575,865 cash-on-hand; Mr. Walton raising $2.79 million, including self-funding, $2.532 million spent, $262,000 in the bank; Mr. Staggs raising $1.14 million, spending $765,000, with $375,249 cash-on-hand.