Utah Republicans pick Trump skeptic John Curtis to replace Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney will be replaced by a guy who sure sounds a lot like Mitt Romney.

Republican Rep. John Curtis, who has occasionally bucked former President Donald Trump, won a crowded GOP primary on Tuesday for Romney’s Utah Senate seat. He beat Trent Staggs, a MAGA candidate with Trump’s blessing, to secure a win for the mainstream GOP in a devout Mormon state that has long proved skeptical of Trumpian politics.

First elected to Congress in 2017, Curtis is a moderate conservative who refused to outright endorse Trump and has not shied away from criticizing the former president. Curtis voted against both of Trump's impeachments — in contrast to Romney's guilty votes in both Senate trials — though the representative did call for the then-president's censure following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Romney’s unease with Trump’s GOP spurred him to retire from the Senate after just one term; Curtis overcame his to secure the Republican nomination.

Curtis, who is known in Congress as a Republican advocate for combating climate change, was nudged into the race by a super PAC funded in part by climate activist Jay Faison. He initially declined a Senate bid but reversed course after that super PAC ran ads urging him to run.

Staggs, the Riverton mayor, won Trump’s endorsement shortly before the state’s GOP convention — a move that surprised some Utah Republicans who viewed Staggs as a long shot candidate. Staggs won the convention, made up of the party’s more MAGA-aligned activists, which secured him a spot on the primary ballot, but he struggled to fundraise. Curtis spent $1.5 million on ads, according to the media tracking term AdImpact. Staggs ran no ads. Curtis also had the support of two well-funded super PACs that spent a combined total of nearly $7 million.

Businessman Jason Walton and former Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson were also on the ballot. Brent Hatch, the son of the late longtime GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch, launched a bid but failed to get on the ballot.

Romney stayed neutral in the race but praised both Curtis and Wilson. On Tuesday night, the outgoing senator praised Curtis after his victory.

“John Curtis is a man of honor and integrity who cares deeply about our fellow citizens and the future of our country,” Romney posted on X. “We need more leaders like him.”

Curtis’ past ensured he was never likely to receive Trump’s backing. Curtis lambasted Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. And he criticized Trump’s trade war with China and foreign aid cuts, and voted to certify the 2020 election results. His wife was a supporter of Nikki Haley’s presidential bid.

“Serving with him is a degree of difficulty of a 10,” Curtis said during a debate earlier this month. “When President Trump is doing anything that I consider aligned with Utah values, and I can check off a pretty good list, I’m wind at his back. But I’m not going to give him an unconditional yes to anything he wants.”

He’ll be a heavy favorite as he faces Democrat Caroline Gleich, a professional ski mountaineer and climate activist, in the fall.