SALT LAKE CITY – Moderate Republicans, who have often found success with Utah voters, are trying to fend off far-right opponents at Saturday’s state GOP convention, which typically favors more conservative candidates.
All eyes are on the tight race to succeed U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, the state’s best-known centrist Republican who often made waves by opposing former President Donald Trump and other party leaders.
Nearly 4,000 delegates attending the convention will select the party’s candidate, although there is no guarantee their choice will win the June primary and end up on the ballot in November.
The group of nearly a dozen Republicans vying to replace Romney includes a congressman, a Trump-backed mayor, a former state legislative leader and the lawyer, son of Utah’s longest-serving U.S. senator. While some have sought to align themselves with far-right figures such as Trump and Utah’s other senator, Mike Lee, others have distanced themselves in an effort to attract the largest number of voters.
“This seat is going to become something of a flashpoint between the two major factions of the party in the state,” said James Curry, a political scientist at Utah State University. “On the one hand, we have the more moderate faction that Romney has really embodied, not just here but across the country, versus the more pro-Trump faction that often hasn’t been as successful with Utah voters when there was a moderate option. viable.”
Trump made a last-minute endorsement in the Senate race for Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, writing Saturday morning on his Truth Social platform that Staggs is a “100% MAGA” candidate who knows how to create jobs, stop inflation, grow the economy and secure the US-Mexico border.
Trump’s endorsement could likely carry Staggs, 49, through convention weekend but may not translate into success at the polls. Historically, Republican Party appointments have had little influence on who Utah voters choose to represent them.
Staggs supporter Eric Buckley, Davis County Delegate, celebrated the endorsement and said he is confident it will be well received by Utah voters. Buckley said he had already vetted the Senate candidates months earlier and chose to support Staggs — the first to enter the race even before Romney announced he would not seek re-election.
“It was his stance on the corruption that exists in D.C. and his promise to stand up against moderate Republicans and Democrats who promote their agenda without any kind of resistance,” Buckley said of his support for Staggs.
Even some GOP delegates who support other major candidates — former state House Speaker Brad Wilson and U.S. Rep. John Curtis — said they might vote for Staggs as the party’s nominee because he is a convention-only candidate, the which means he did not collect signatures to secure his place on the primary ballot. Both Wilson and Curtis have already collected enough signatures to qualify for the primary regardless of Saturday’s outcome.
Tim Lindsay, a Cache County delegate who attended the convention wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, said that while he supports Trump, the former president’s endorsement will have little impact on how he votes. His vote will go to “the most conservative candidate” who did not collect signatures.
“This is a cheap way out,” Lindsay said of collecting signatures. “I respect a candidate who respects the convention process.”
Wilson, 55, supported Trump’s re-election bid and promises to be a “conservative fighter” on Capitol Hill. Its elaborate exhibition stand in the convention hall featured a tractor plowing its way through a pile of cinder blocks labeled “Biden Agenda.”
Curtis, 63, who is seen as the more moderate of the two leaders, has been compared to Romney for pushing back against his party’s hard line, especially on climate change. He is expected to have broad appeal among primary voters.
Davis County Delegate Jonathan Miller, who wore a “Team Mitt” baseball cap, said Curtis is his choice to replace the retiring senator because he has proven himself to be someone who works across the aisle to get things done in the Congress.
Nominees for governor, Congress and other positions will also be selected on Saturday.
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