AMAC Exclusive – By Shane Harris
With Mitt Romney opting not to seek re-election to the Senate this year, conservatives throughout the country are hopeful that Utah voters will elect a strong candidate who avoids Romney’s nasty habit of caving to the left.
But the current leading GOP candidate is U.S. House Member John Curtis – another Republican with a long history of betraying conservative causes whom Romney reportedly encouraged to enter the race.
Representative Curtis began his political career as a Democrat before switching his registration to Republican in 2006. According to a profile from Deseret News, Curtis served a year as the Utah County Democratic Party Chairman from 2002 to 2003 and has repeatedly referred to himself as a “Utah Democrat.”
Curtis also reportedly staffed his office with Democrats when he was elected mayor of Provo – an alarming sign for Utahans as they consider sending him to represent them in the Senate.
Given former President Donald Trump’s strong performance in Utah in 2016 and 2020, many Republicans in the state are likely eager for a senator who prioritizes working with a Republican president to advance a conservative agenda. But since his election to represent Utah’s 3rd Congressional District in 2016, Curtis has been one of former President Trump’s most vocal critics on the Republican side of the aisle, and even voted to censure Trump in 2021. In a video posted to his YouTube page in 2019, Curtis said it was “no secret” that he didn’t vote for Trump in 2016.
Another major red flag for Republican voters is Curtis’s continued embrace of the left’s climate change hysteria.
In an interview with NPR, Curtis suggested that conservatives are “science deniers” for refusing to embrace liberal climate policies. He also formed the “Conservative Climate Caucus” in the U.S. House and joined with Democrats to sponsor legislation “to streamline the federal response to climate hazards,” blaming wildfires in Utah on manmade climate change and calling it a “serious threat.”
A report from The Daily Caller has also raised concerns about Curtis’s history of suspicious stock trading. The Caller found that Curtis made “several well-timed stock trades during events such as the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the banking crisis earlier this year,” reaping large returns well above the market average.
Curtis initially said that he had no intention of running for Romney’s seat, categorically stating in an op-ed last October that he would be “staying the course in the House.” He also claimed that he has “never liked career politicians” but “saw that I had become one.”
Just one month later, however, Curtis announced that he was “reconsidering” his decision to not run for Senate. He officially launched his campaign on January 3.
At least some of that decision may be due to influence from the retiring Mitt Romney. Curtis told the Salt Lake Tribune that “personal conversations” with several other U.S. Senators convinced him to change his mind about running. One of those senators, according to multiple sources who spoke with the Tribune, was Romney.
For Utahans weary from six years in which their junior senator acted as a thorn in the side of President Donald Trump and then backed some of Joe Biden’s worst legislation, the prospect of Romney hand-picking a successor in his ideological mold is an alarming one indeed.
Romney was notably among a contingent of Republican Senators who backed Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure law, voted to convict Trump during Democrats’ second spurious impeachment effort, supported Biden’s nomination of Ketanji Brown-Jackson to the Supreme Court, and helped Democrats undermine traditional marriage. If he now believes that Curtis is the best bet to carry on this legacy, Utah conservatives should be extremely cautious.
But with a very crowded primary field (12 candidates have declared so far) Curtis’s big money backers could have enormous sway.
A few other names to pay attention to as potential alternatives to Curtis are Brent Hatch, Carolyn Phippen, and Brad Wilson.
Hatch, the son of the late Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, has deep ties in the state and would enjoy strong name ID. He previously worked in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and currently works as an attorney in Utah.
Phippen is a former staffer of Utah’s other senator, Mike Lee – who, unlike Romney, has a strong reputation for upholding conservative principles. She is a mother of five with a long career in political consulting.
Wilson, the former speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, is perhaps the strongest challenger to Curtis. He raised more than $1 million from donors before even announcing his bid, proving that he has the fundraising prowess to take on Curtis’s money machine. Wilson also has a strong history of supporting conservative policies in the Utah House that would contrast sharply with Curtis’s record.
With more than five months to go until Utah’s GOP primary on June 25, the race is far from decided.
Shane Harris is a writer and political consultant from Southwest Ohio. You can follow him on X @ShaneHarris513.
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Unfortunately “Republican” no longer means “Conservative.” Our elected officials simply care more about staying in power and filling their pockets with money. The care little about the health and benefit of the country. We, the people, are simply peasants and sheep, they are the all powerful Despots. This structure in government is called Communism.
What have the people in Utah (state of my birth) lost their minds, the last thing they need to do is pick another loser (Romney 2012 presidential run) I couldn’t believe that Orin Hatch got Rummy Romney elected, and know they are going to continue the loser trend, wakeup you people in Utah and find another great person like Mike Lee’
Don’t make Utah Stupid again, Make it Great Again!
The GOP, Utah, and the country don’t need a Romney look alike in the Senate. We need someone who recognizes Democrats as a threat to country.
Thank you to the writer of this article and AAMAC to try to open the eyes of Utahns!! PLEASE Utah let’s choose wisely to rid ourselves of Rino representation such as “Doctor Defecto:”Romney!!
God bless Senator Lee!!!
“There are but two parties now: traitors and patriots. And I want hereafter to be ranked with the latter.” ― Ulysses S. Grant
The traitors are the Democrats, RINO’s … the UNI-PARTY! The Patriots are America First candidates. MAGA is the new party of, WE THE PEOPLE! God Bless America ????
This guy looks like real “Tool”.
Hopefully the people of Utah will pick a Conservative republican instead of another scummy democrat in disguise.
I should live long enough to see this mess end! Elect Niki Haly and watch how happy the establishment congress will be. Should fate and lazy conservatives allow her into the office, she will not veto one spending Bill and we will no longer have a constitution.
Come on, Utahans. You know what to do.
Apparently, the Democrat Party isn’t your Grandpa’s Democrat Party BUT the Republican Party isn’t your Grandpa’s Republican Party either so……. We, as conservative people, have to investigate those who are running to replace any Republican because these RINO’s can so easily pass as Republicans but then stab Republicans in the back over and over again!!! I have no faith or trust in the federal government and, anymore, it doesn’t matter who is in charge because they may not be who you think they are!!!
What we do not need in the Senate is another Mitt Romney by another name. I hope and pray that the people in Utah check things out carefully and vote accordingly. The next President needs both Congressional Chambers walking together down a path of recovery in the US of A.
It is sad what has happened to this country the lies and mass corruption in this country any one that gets into the White House and other government agencies just look to fill there pockets before they get out care nothing about the welfare of the people here and the country as a whole. What is bad they allow any one to walk into this country and do not care what comes here as long as tax payers pay there way. Any one that tries to tell the truth and is for the people of this country they will do anything to get them out and out for good just like what is happening to President Trump and his family they treat them like dirt will do anything to destroy them and and anyone else that try to do good for this country is treated the same. We need to get back to better values with the present person in office it will never happen and his administration
GIGO DC Swamp for the DC Swamp
Will Utahans be STUPID enough to vote for “Romney Lite?”
Oh yeah, just what we need, ANOTHER STINKING RINO!!! Utahans, please don’t don’t do this to us again! Romney was horrible and untrustworthy, we don’t need a clone. Send us a REAL, RED BLOODED, PATRIOTIC, TRUE TO THE BONES REPUBLICAN!! One ready to fight for us and our country. Help save the America we love!!!
They are going to force us into a Revolt. These AH are pushing their luck and I hope the people in Utah push for a different candidate. Enough is enough and now it’s time for We the People to publicly take a stand and let these AH know where they stand with us.
Besides the trust factor re: Curtis, it is obvious that he has an aversion to studying other sides of a question or argument or perhaps even checking science and histories where he has no expertise. That is so sad.
Let’s have faith that Utah Republican voters are going to elect a strong conservative after the disappointing Romney!
Sounds like he is one of those types ,that always wants to be on the winning side. Cant stand to lose. Vote him out. Kyle L.
We are at a threshold where there are lots of Democrats in sheep-clothing Republican attires. Americans need to know how these people in Congress votes, who they succumbed to, and their very sinister ploys to subjugate true conservatives and truly moderates (who are in the minority), to offset their votes in Congress. The bottom line is simple, there are consequences to all elections (federal, states, municipalities, school boards to name a few, along with some Americans and some legal immigrants willing to destroy this country for whatever diabolical reasons residing in the deep recesses of their minds. The Globalist or should I referred them as One World Order are bend on seizing or destroying our Constitutional Rights, and that precisely their intent.
Republican party must stop attacking people in their party. If a person does not vote 100% with party, then you label them RINO s. What has happened to this country that the two parties no longer want to compromise & vote what is best for all Americans & not just one party. The National Debt cannot continue to grow like it has for 12-straight years of Obama & Trump terms, and so that blame is on both parties. Quit dividing this country & start working together as a team!
Trent Staggs ???????? is the only America First candidate for Senator for Utah
Another RINO. Makes you wonder if we really have a two party system. Pitiful.
I pray that it is ANYBODY but Curtis. He’s a Republican imposter!
That phony smile does not reach the calculating eyes