Utah Republicans to select nominee for Mitt Romney's open US Senate seat

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Nearly a dozen Utah Republicans vying to replace Mitt Romney in the U.S. Senate are set to square off Saturday for the party nomination in a race expected to reveal the brand of political conservatism that most appeals to modern voters in the state.

Romney has long been the face of the party's more moderate wing, but his retirement from the Senate opens a door for Utah's farther-right faction. Observers are closely watching whether voters select a successor whose politics align more with Romney's or with Utah’s other U.S. senator, conservative Mike Lee, who supports former President Donald Trump.

The winner at Saturday’s state GOP convention, which tends to favor far-right candidates who appeal to the most zealous party members, may get a bump in the race. Some losing candidates still can qualify for the June 25 primary ballot by gathering signatures, so Republican voters will ultimately decide the party's pick to succeed Romney.

“Ultimately, the successful candidate in the primary election phase will be the candidate who shows they best connect with general Utah Republican values, rather than the person who's able to stake out the furthest right position possible, even if that helps them to some extent with the delegates," said Damon Cann, head of Utah State University's political science department.

The crowded race, which includes a congressman, a former state legislative leader and the lawyer son of a former senator, will not only set the tone for the post-Romney era of Utah conservatism, but likely will serve as a litmus test for Trump's popularity in the Beehive State.

Those most closely aligned with the embattled former president, namely former state House Speaker Brad Wilson, are expected to fare well at the convention. But political scientists, including James Curry of the University of Utah, anticipate a more moderate candidate such as U.S. Rep. John Curtis will prevail in the primary. The 63-year-old Republican congressman, environmentalist and former mayor of Provo began his political career as a county-level Democratic Party official.

“This is a type of state where I think you actually have a slight advantage being more anti-Trump, if not decisively and vocally so, which is not something you’d find in most states where Republican voters are concerned," Curry said.

While Trump has made inroads in the state party, he has long been unpopular among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church, who make up about half of the state’s 3.4 million residents.

Curtis has actively tried to distance himself from Trump, and even Romney, promising to forge his own path in the Senate. However, his record of pushing fellow congressional Republicans to combat climate change — in much the same way Romney urged party members to part ways with Trump — has led many to draw parallels between the two.

Even Wilson, 55, who endorsed Trump earlier this year, has made little mention of the former president on the campaign trail. The move represents a departure from many farther-right candidates in other states who have tried to leverage Trump's political power to win their own races.

Curry expects the party nomination will carry little weight in a state where Republican delegates are often not representative of the party's broader membership. Romney himself was booed by delegates at a past convention and even lost the nomination in 2018, but he still won the statewide popular vote.

The candidates notably have not sought Romney’s endorsement, which Cann said is unusual in races with a departing incumbent. Several have sought the support of his more conservative counterpart, who is popular among delegates, but Lee has not yet endorsed anyone in the Senate race.

Curtis, Wilson and businessman Jason Walton already have guaranteed their spots on the primary ballot through signature gathering. Other candidates such as Brent Orrin Hatch, son of Utah’s longest serving U.S. senator, the late Orrin Hatch, could still make the primary if they earn at least 40% of delegate votes on Saturday.

Wilson has raised about $2 million from supporters, and he loaned his campaign an additional $2.8 million, according to Federal Election Commission fillings. Curtis has raised about $3 million, which includes money left over from his former congressional bid.

Republican nominees for governor, Congress and other offices also will be selected at Saturday's convention. Incumbent Gov. Spencer Cox faces some prominent challengers, but Cann and Curry expect the moderate Republican will win the primary even if he isn't chosen as the party nominee. State Democrats will hold a concurrent convention on Saturday.

FILE - Mitt Romney smiles during a campaign event, June 20, 2018, in American Fork, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Utah's 3rd Congressional District Republican incumbent John Curtis speaks during an election night party, Nov. 3, 2020, in Sandy, Utah. Curtis announced he is jumping into the race Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, for the Utah U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mitt Romney. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Republican Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson walks on to the stage before announcing that he is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mitt Romney, who recently announced he won't run for re-election, during a rally on Sept. 27, 2023, in Draper, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Kentucky Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams, who worked to expand early voting in the Bluegrass State and has spoken out against election denialism in his own party, has been chosen to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award this year.

In its announcement Monday, the JFK Library Foundation said Adams was recognized “for expanding voting rights and standing up for free and fair elections despite party opposition and death threats from election deniers.”

Adams — whose signature policy objective is to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat — was at the forefront of a bipartisan effort with Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear that led to the enactment of 2021 legislation allowing for three days of no-excuse, early in-person voting — including on a Saturday — before Election Day. Adams hailed it as Kentucky’s most significant election law update in more than a century. About one-fifth of the Kentuckians who voted in last year's statewide election did so during those three days of early, in-person voting, Adams' office said Monday.

As his state's chief election officer, Adams has pushed back forcefully against false claims about rigged elections, referring to election skeptics as “cranks and kooks.”

“There’s a lot of irresponsible chatter out there and demagoguery about us having hacked elections," Adams said in a 2022 interview on Spectrum News 1. “It’s all hogwash. Our elections have never been hacked and are not hacked now.”

First elected in 2019, Adams won reelection by a wide margin last year after dominating his party's primary, which included a challenger who promoted debunked election claims.

Adams, a Kentucky native and graduate of Harvard Law School, said Monday that Kennedy's “admonition to put country before self still resonates today, and rings true now more than ever.”

“I am honored to accept this award on behalf of election officials and poll workers across America who, inspired by his call, sacrifice to keep the American experiment in self-government alive,” he added.

Adams is part of an effort begun after the last presidential election that seeks to bring together Republican officials who are willing to defend the country’s election systems and the people who run them. They want officials to reinforce the message that elections are secure and accurate, which they say is especially important as the country heads toward another divisive presidential contest in November.

“It’s an obligation on Republicans’ part to stand up for the defense of our system because our party -- there’s some blame for where we stand right now,” Adams said recently. “But it’s also strategically wise for Republicans to say, ‘Hey Republicans, you can trust this. Don’t stay at home.’”

During a recent campaign rally, former President Donald Trump — the presumptive Republican nominee for president this year — repeated his false claim that Democrats rigged the 2020 election.

Just 24% of Republicans said they had a great deal or quite a bit of confidence that votes will be counted accurately in the 2024 presidential election, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in December.

Adams is seen as a potential candidate for governor in 2027, when he and Beshear will be term-limited in their current jobs.

Honorary JFK Library Foundation President Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, will present the award to Adams on June 9 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.

President Kennedy’s book, “Profiles in Courage,” recounts the stories of eight U.S. senators who risked their careers by taking principled stands for unpopular positions. Past winners of the Profile in Courage Award include former U.S. presidents Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama.

FILE - Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams speaks in the Rotunda of the state Capitol, Jan. 2, 2024, in Frankfort, Ky. Adams, who worked to expand early voting in the Bluegrass State and has spoken out against election denialism in his own party, was chosen Monday, May 6, to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award this year. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)