Utah’s Republican primary is in progress, and polls are open

Salt Lake City, Utah – Republican voters in Utah will decide on Tuesday whether the state’s most famous moderate conservative, retiring U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, will be succeeded by someone similarly willing to challenge GOP hard-liners or a farther-right candidate who pledges to fall in line with former President Donald Trump.

Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson reported as of Monday at 4 p.m. that 24.2% of ballots had been processed. It’s too late to vote by mail, she reminded voters, but polls were still open around the state for ballots to be dropped off. On Tuesday, Utahns can also cast ballots in person and register to vote.

The primary contest between competing GOP factions will determine whether or not Republican voters in Utah, a unique Republican bastion that has only grudgingly supported the former president in previous elections, have grown more receptive to Trump.

A suburban mayor, Trent Staggs, who rode Trump’s endorsement to a GOP convention nomination for Romney’s seat, is hoping it will also drive him past U.S. Rep. John Curtis, the more moderate front-runner in Tuesday’s primary.

Curtis has positioned himself as the alternative to Staggs, the mayor of Riverton, and the other two candidates, with whom the majority of the campaign has been dominated by disputes about which of their policy stances is most similar to Trump’s.

Initially serving as a county-level Democratic Party official, Curtis is the only Republican remaining in the campaign who has not publicly endorsed Trump’s reelection. He has drawn comparisons to Romney because of his opposition to the more radical elements of his party, especially when it comes to climate change.

Former state House Speaker Brad Wilson, a rival candidate for the position, has the financial edge thanks to a $3 million loan to his campaign. Before losing to Staggs at the April convention, he was regarded as a serious contender and was now viewed as a long shot in the primary. Another candidate is Jason Walton, who has positioned himself as a Trump-esque businessman.

Curtis might get a further boost if followers of the previous president split between Staggs, Wilson and Walton.

The victor of the Republican primary is heavily favored to defeat Democratic contender Caroline Gleich in November in this state, which hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1970.
State Representative Phil Lyman, the main opponent of Governor Spencer Cox, is scheduled to meet with him on Tuesday.

Even though GOP convention delegates, who often trend farther to the right, booed Cox earlier this year, the moderate Republican who assumed office in 2021 is still projected to win. After the 2020 presidential election, Lyman, a former county commissioner who is now a state politician, propagated unfounded allegations of election fraud.

To protest federal officials’ decision to bar motorized vehicles from a canyon in southeast Utah to preserve Native American cliff dwellings, artifacts, and burial sites, Lyman is most known for planning an illegal ATV trip in 2014. In 2015, a jury found him guilty of misdemeanor illegal use of ATVs and conspiracy; as a result, a judge sentenced him to three years on probation and 10 days in jail. In December 2020, Trump granted him a pardon.
The Republican nominee for governor, state representative Brian King, is the overwhelming favorite to defeat him in November. King is the Democratic nominee.

On Tuesday as well, five Republicans are vying for Curtis’s U.S. House seat in the 3rd District, which is up for grabs since he wants to run for the Senate.

After winning a special election last autumn, Trump-backed U.S. Representative Celeste Maloy of Utah’s 2nd District is running for her first full term on Capitol Hill. The opponent she is up against is Colby Jenkins, a former U.S. Army officer and communications expert who has the support of U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, Romney’s opponent.

Primaries will be held Tuesday for other state and national offices, including the 1st District U.S. House seat, attorney general, state auditor, state Senate, state House and state Board of Education.