SALT LAKE CITY (KeynoteUSA) — Four Utah Republicans fighting to win outgoing U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney’s seat face off Monday night in a debate that could begin to test the kind of conservative most appealing to voters around the world. the state.
The main event in a marathon week of primary debates will test former President Donald Trump’s widespread influence in Utah, one of the few red states that has hesitated to embrace him. Trump’s day of endorsement of a little-known mayor helped the local official win the party’s nomination over nearly a dozen contenders at the April convention.
Romney has long been the face of the party’s more moderate wing, and his retirement from the Senate opens the door for candidates further to the right. Observers are watching closely to see whether voters choose a successor whose policies align more with Romney’s or with Utah’s other U.S. senator, Trump supporter Mike Lee.
While moderate Rep. John Curtis is considered the front-runner for the June 25 primary, convention victor Trent Staggs and former Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson, another Trump supporter, could push the policy forward. of Utah further to the right in the post-Romney era.
Curtis, Wilson and businessman Jason Walton had already secured their spots on the primary ballot by collecting signatures before the convention, and Staggs will join them on the debate stage.
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Staggs, 49, built his base by calling state Republican delegates and seeking endorsements from Trump and many of his allies across the country. The mayor of Riverton, a suburb south of Salt Lake City, was the first candidate to enter the Senate race, even before Romney announced that he would not seek re-election. Staggs’ victory at the convention may not translate into success at the polls, as GOP nominations have historically had little influence on the decisions of Utah voters.
Curtis has been compared to Romney for rejecting his party’s hardliners, particularly on climate change, but has distanced himself from the outgoing senator while campaigning for his seat. The 63-year-old Republican congressman and former mayor of Provo began his political career as a county-level Democratic Party official. He is now the longest-serving member of Utah’s U.S. House delegation and has presented himself as the only candidate who already understands the inner workings of the Capitol.
Wilson, who has the backing of Gov. Spencer Cox and other top state officials, insists he has already had the biggest impact on Utahns as a state legislative leader. As speaker of the House of Representatives, he oversaw years of tax cuts and budget negotiations that he said will help him combat excessive federal spending. Wilson, 55, has touted plans to loosen federal regulations that he says hinder local officials from detaining immigrants living in the United States illegally.
The winner of the Republican Senate primary will face Democrat Caroline Gleich, a mountaineer and environmental activist, in November. Utah has not elected a Democrat to the United States Senate since 1970.
The Senate Republican debate is one of three scheduled for Monday in Utah. Challengers for two of the state’s four congressional seats will debate earlier in the day. Candidates for governor, attorney general and Curtis’ open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives will face off Tuesday and Wednesday.
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