AP: Rep. John Curtis wins U.S. Senate race to replace Mitt Romney
The race to replace Utah Sen. Mitt Romney was called for 3rd District Congressman John Curtis by The Associated Press shortly after polls closed on Tuesday.
It was fitting for Curtis' victory celebration to take place in Provo — his district's largest population center, and the site of his first experience in elected office. Curtis served as mayor of Utah's fourth most populous city from 2010 to his election to Congress in a 2017 special election to fill a vacancy left by former Rep. Jason Chaffetz.
During his time in Congress, Curtis has passed 20 bills into law, making him one of the most productive lawmakers in the country. Laws sponsored by Curtis include the Emery County Public Land Management Act — which established new public recreation spaces and transferred thousands of acres of federal land to Utah — and the Advanced Nuclear Reactor Prize Act — which award grants to cover regulatory fees to incentivize new nuclear projects.
Curtis has made a name for himself among the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives by creating the Conservative Climate Caucus in 2021, which has quickly grown to be one of the largest groups in the House, with the goal of giving Republicans a seat at the table in environmental discussions that don't demonize fossil fuels, but rather focus on energy innovation.
Gleich, an outdoors influencer and environmental activist, has criticized Curtis for not supporting massive green energy bills, like the Inflation Reduction Act, and for receiving campaign contributions from oil and electric companies. During a televised debate , Gleich made her pitch that the youngest state in the nation needs to send a new generation of leaders to Congress that will take the "climate crisis" seriously.
Curtis told the Deseret News during an extended interview while hiking the Lake Mary Trail that approaching climate change as a crisis pushes consensus solutions out of reach. But Curtis thinks the word "crisis" does apply to the nation's ballooning debt, which now approaches $36 trillion, and foreign relations, with conflicts looming or growing in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and China.
If elected to the Senate, Curtis said he would prioritize reforming the budget process to incentivize a return to regular order spending bills instead of last minute omnibus packages, and making sure the country's defense is better equipped to handle cyber attacks and the potential invasion of Taiwan.
Curtis will enter a likely Republican majority in the Senate, along with Beehive State senior Sen. Mike Lee, in search of a new majority leader. Curtis previously told the Deseret News he is in "constant contact" with candidates for the position and that he is looking for a figure who can unite different factions within the GOP and avoid the dysfunction that has plagued the chamber Curtis has been a member of.
Curtis emerged from an extremely expensive and occasionally contentious primary race with a near majority of support in June. Curtis' opponents, some of whom had spent millions of their own dollars in the race, accused Curtis of benefiting from large amounts of outside spending .
In his bid to replace Utah's junior senator, Curtis has framed himself as a conservative with little loyalty to partisan labels. He has laid out a rubric of conditional support for former President Donald Trump depending on whether he acts in favor of "Utah values." Curtis defines these values as those of the state's founding pioneers, including faith, hard work, self-reliance and a pragmatic approach to addressing poverty.
