ST. GEORGE — With ballots beginning to arrive in the mail and the primary just weeks away, four Republicans are vying to secure their place as the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate.
This file photo shows Trent Staggs campaigns at the Utah Republican Nominating Convention in Salt Lake City, April 27, 2024 Photo by Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune, St. George News
These candidates include Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, Congressman John Curtis, former Utah Speaker of the House Brad Wilson and businessman Jason Walton.
Staggs has been Riverton’s mayor for over a decade and touts himself as a candidate who will stand up against the status quo in Washington, D.C. He also carries the endorsement of former President Donald Trump and many others who make up a who’s who of conservative politicians and pundits. He is also the Utah Republican Party’s official choice for the Senate having won the nomination at the state convention in April.
Curtis, Walton and Wilson were each defeated at the state convention yet remain on the primary ballot due to gathering the required signatures.
Curtis currently serves as the congressman representing Utah’s 3rd district. He is in his fourth term and seeks to transition from the House to the Senate. He says his preexisting relationships and ability to work with others in Washington, D.C., will continue to benefit Utah and points to being able to pass 19 bills in a divided Congress as evidence of this. Prior to being elected to Congress, Curtis served as the mayor of Provo.
A campaign display for former Utah state House Speaker Brad Wilson shows a tractor clearing away concrete blocks labeled “Biden Agenda” at the Utah Republican Party Convention, Salt Lake City, Utah, April 27, 2024 | Associated Press file photo by Hannah Schoenbaum, St. George News
Wilson is a real estate developer and the former Speaker of the Utah House. He has said he wants to take “the Utah way” of running government to what he called a dysfunctional Washington, D.C., and touted his ability to work with others to find common solutions to pressing issues. He carries the endorsements of several colleagues in the Utah Legislature as well as several county sheriffs, county commissioners and mayors.
Walton is an entrepreneur who has owned several businesses and is currently the CEO of Moxie Pest Control in Provo. It is concerns related to actions, or lack thereof, toward the Mexican border by the Biden administration that served as one of the reasons he said be decided to get into the race. He has also said America is at a tipping point due to being $34.6 trillion in debt and cannot afford to keep funding foreign war efforts like Ukraine.
Whoever wins the primary election on June 25 will go on to face Democratic candidate Caroline Gleich in the general election. Other candidates running for the Senate seat include Carlton Bowen of the Independent American Party of Utah and Laird Hamblin who is running as a Democrat write-in candidate.
The victor of the general election will take the seat being vacated by Sen. Mitt Romney, who announced last September that he would not seek reelection and urged younger people to run for public office.
St. George News asked each candidate questions related to energy policy, working with political opposites in Congress, balancing foreign aid and domestic issues and naming at least one thing Romney has done that they agreed with and supported.
How would you approach the nation’s energy policy and production?
Wilson
Utah’s former state House Speaker Brad Wilson, a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat Mitt Romney is vacating, speaks to delegates at the Utah Republican Party Convention at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 27, 2024 | Associated Press file photo by Hannah Schoenbaum, St. George News
“I believe we should have an ‘all the above’ approach,” Wilson said. “We should also be aggressively pursuing nuclear as an option.”
Wilson supports green energy like wind and solar as well but argues that the free market should be allowed to determine what works best. He said the shift to less-effective reusable energies and over-regulation of fossil fuels by government agencies will keep increasing energy costs for Americans.
Utah produces clean coal that burns far cleaner than other countries like China, Wilson said, adding that as the former Speaker of the Utah House, he touted his role in a successful lawsuit against the government to keep Utah’s coal-fired power plants open.
It is important to keep producing reliable base-load energy while exploring various energy sources, he said.
Curtis
“This is why the work I’ve done is so important,” Curtis said. “The narrative out there … is that we need to be clean, and to be clean you need to give up affordability and reliability and energy independence. I don’t believe that at all”
Curtis said he sees coal, oil and gas as a part of the solution and not the problem. He said the United States risks repeating Europe’s mistake of being overly focused on green energy to the point those nations are reportedly relying on foreign fossil fuels while also increasing green house emissions versus lowering them.
Conservative values align with lower emissions through geothermal, hydro, nuclear and cleaner-burning fossil fuel and educating people on these choices is crucial, Curtis said.
Walton
Jason Walton, a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat Mitt Romney is vacating, speaks to delegates at the Utah Republican Party Convention at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 27, 2024 | Associated Press file photo by Hannah Schoenbaum, St. George News
“I’m for all forms of energy, but let the market dictate energy and stop interfering with it,” Walton said.
Energy prices are increasing due to government over-regulation and intervention in the gas and oil industry in favor of far less effective green energy projects, he said and further criticized the Biden administration for limiting drilling permits for fossil fuels, imposing regulations on transportation, and promoting what he calls “crony climate capitalism” through tax incentives for green energy.
Walton is also skeptical of the Green New Deal and said he sees it primarily benefiting certain businesses and foreign powers like China, which has been accused of being one of the worst polluters on the planet.
Like other Republican Senate candidates, Walton is in favor of adding nuclear power to the nation’s overall energy portfolio.
Staggs
“I’ve been advocating in energy dominance and independence from day one,” Staggs said, adding he has prior experience in the oil and gas industry as a consultant and carries the endorsement of the Oil & Gas Workers Association.
Staggs said rising energy prices caused by the actions of the Biden administration – such as canceling major energy projects and allowing increased regulation of the energy and fossil fuels sector – has added to the nation’s inflationary woes in combination with printing money and deficit spending.
Staggs advocates for an end to the printing of money and fostering abundant low-energy sources, including nuclear power. He also supports Trump’s policies for domestic energy production.
Working with the other side: Can it be done or is bipartisanship in the Senate a lost cause?
Curtis
This file photo shows U.S. Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, a candidate for U.S. Senate as he makes the case for his candidacy at Stephen Wade Toyota, St. George, Utah, Jan. 29, 2024 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News
“Washington is very much driven by relationships – I think that’s one of my superpowers and what’s allowed me to pass 19 bills into law in a divided Congress,” Curtis said.
In order to accomplish this, he said he has been successful in finding common ground with others in a Democrat-dominated Congress and that has enabled him to get conservative bills passed.
This applies to working within the Republican Party as well, he said, as some House Republicans who have refused to collaborate with others have ended up achieving none of their priorities in Congress.
“If you want to get something done, you’ll want to find a path forward with them,” Curtis said.
Walton
“I think working with people is one of my strengths,” Walton said.
While he favors cooperation and a bipartisan approach when aiming for a common goal, Walton set his sights on Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer, the respective heads of their parties in the Senate. He accused McConnell of failing to progress a conservative agenda and working with Schumer in what he called a “tyranny of Senate leadership.”
Walton accused the Senate leaders of crafting bills and giving their fellow senators a limited time to review them before calling for a vote. It is a process that stifles collaboration among senators and undermines the democratic principles of transparency and debate and needs to stop, he said.
“It’s really just two people giving you the illusion that you have 100 senators,” Walton said.
Staggs
In this file photo, Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs speaks at a senate candidate forum hosted by the Washington County Republican Women, St. George, Utah, Feb. 1, 2024 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
“If we have the same objective, then we can negotiate,” Staggs said. “Sadly, what has happened in our party in particular, under the quote-unquote leadership of McConnell, Romney, these types of individuals – they’ve been far too willing to be co-opted by Democrats. And the compromise, if you will, seems to only occur on our side. And that’s why we find ourselves in a position of $35 trillion in debt.”
Staggs touted a track record of successful collaboration in municipal government and said he would not compromise on fundamental principles related to fiscal responsibility and border security. While negotiations on shared objectives are possible, he said he will not compromise on core values and priorities.
Wilson
“I think, as a country, we have a history of, in our best times, of coming together and working with individuals from all political parties, but that doesn’t mean we compromise on our values,” Wilson said. “What it means is we stay at the table until we find a win-win that accomplishes what everyone tries to.”
He criticized politicians, including Republicans, who he said appear to care more about being talking heads on cable news channels over doing meaningful work.
“That’s not the way to get bipartisan support in this country,” he said.
Genuine compromise, which respects core values and seeks mutually beneficial solutions, is crucial, Wilson said, adding that he aims to take Utah’s common sense and collaborative spirit to Washington, D.C.
Balancing foreign aid and domestic needs: Is Congress focusing too much on foreign aid for other nations rather than paying attention to needs at home?
This file photo shows demonstrators supporting Ukraine gather outside the United Nations during an emergency meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, New York, New York, Feb. 28, 2022 | Photo by John Minchillo/Associated Press, St. George News
Walton
“I don’t think it’s in America’s best interest to give aid to Ukraine,” Walton said. “It is silly and shameful that we’re out defending other people’s borders when we won’t even defend our own. It’s silly. And it’s embarrassing, and it’s not fair to our citizens.”
Providing financial aid to Ukraine when the nation is nearly $35 trillion in debt is a concern, Walton said, adding that he believes China is carefully watching the situation and may take advantage of it. This would create a two-front war of economic support with the nation supporting Ukraine and potentially Taiwan if China invaded, he said. Rather, Walton wants America to focus on its own financial needs first and then throw aid behind Taiwan instead if necessary.
Concerning the southern border, Walton said he is very concerned about border security and the mass immigration taking place there. He wants to see an end to the current “catch and release” policy and a reinstatement of the “Stay in Mexico” policy enacted under the Trump presidency.
Human and drug trafficking is on the rise, which greatly benefits Mexican cartels, he said and blamed the Biden administration for allowing it to happen.
Staggs
“I’ve been very consistent that I’m not in support of funding endless war,” Staggs said. “$170-plus billion given to Ukraine with next to no accountability and billions and billions of dollars in accounting errors. I think this is a gross mismanagement of taxpayer money. I think that Utahns and Americans deserve better. We need to put America first. I think the America first philosophy ideology agenda, if you will, is something that we need to come back to.”
Staggs’ stance differed in relation to Israel as it is “a beacon of freedom in the Middle East.” However, he said he also wants to see Israel normalize relations with more of its regional neighbors as what happened under the Abraham Accords.
Staggs then spoke of NATO and how the member-countries need to “pay their fair share” and is something the Biden administration hasn’t sought to enforce as the Trump administration had, and “that needs to turn around.”
“When we do have foreign aid or alliances, we need to ensure that people are stepping up and doing their part and that we only do it where American interests are truly present,” he said.
Curtis
This file photo shows a family embracing each other at a pro-Israel rally in Town Square, St. George, Utah, Oct 11, 2023 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
Curtis said committing to support America’s allies aboard and taking care of issues at home are not mutually exclusive and that is “a false narrative that you can’t pay attention to both.”
The United States can’t “put its head in the sand and ignore these geopolitical tensions,” he said, referring to the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine. Standing up to the problem now and supplying economic and material aid to those nations is in America’s interest, he said, and it can help prevent American soldiers from becoming involved in potentially larger conflicts that could spin out of the current ones if left to fester without American assistance.
On the domestic front is the mass immigration into the country from the southern border, which has become a primary talking point for many Republican candidates.
“It’s fair to say we’re not making progress on that, but it’s not due to a lack of attention,” Curtis said. “It’s due to a lack of involvement by the president.”
Curtis said he would like to see HR 2, an immigration and border security bill that passed the House last year, be passed in the Senate so more measures could be taken to secure the border and slow the flood of illegal migrants.
Wilson
This file photo shows a Utah Highway Patrol vehicle with bags of narcotics on its hood. Sixty pounds of methamphetamine and 3 kilos of fentanyl pills were seized during a traffic stop in Cedar City, Utah, June 10, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News / Cedar City News
“I think it starts with recognizing that as a country, we have got to make sure – before we send money to other countries to help them protect their borders – we’ve got to take care of our borders first,” Wilson said.
America can and should support its allies, Wilson added, but not by putting the needs of Americans second to that. A prime example of that, which he and other candidates point to, is the Mexican border and the impact it is having within the country.
Wilson recently met with county sheriffs from across Utah who said the influx of illegal migrants is having a negative impact on public safety – particularly in relation to the trafficking of fentanyl – and local services like health care and public schools.
The nation’s continuing deficit spending, particularly in relation to funding Ukraine in its efforts against Russian invasion, can be frustrating for people when they see so much money go to foreign aid while they’re having trouble trying to live with the pressures of inflation and higher costs of living, Wilson said.
“And the biggest tragedy in all of this is we are mortgaging our future,” he said. “We have elected leaders in Washington that have lacked courage, and lack conviction to do the right thing. … First and foremost, the most important issue that needs to be dealt with on the national level is deficit spending. And there is no meaningful, courageous work being done in Washington on that issue.”
Farewell to the senator from Utah: Name one thing Romney has done during his time in office that you agreed with and supported.
This file photo shows Mitt Romney smiling during a Senate campaign event in American Fork, Utah, June 20, 2018 | Associated Press file photo by Rick Bowmer, St. George News
Staggs
“I agreed with him when he confirmed (Justice Brett Kavanaugh) to the Supreme Court,” Staggs said. “However, I disagreed vehemently with him when he also confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson. … I guess there was one good confirmation on the Supreme Court.”
Staggs added that Romney has tried to raise the alarm about the country’s growing debt yet has also turned around and supported large spending bills like the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
He also highlighted that he was the only one among the current Senate candidates who announced their intent to challenge Romney directly prior to the senator announcing he would not seek reelection.
Curtis
“Sen. Romney was very influential in helping with the Emery County Public Lands Bill,” Curtis said.
People in Emery County were worried their county could become the home of a new national monument like the Bears Ears area in San Juan County. Working with Romney and others, Curtis said they were able to craft a bill that won bipartisan support and “found consensus among environmentalists, ranchers and off-road enthusiasts and (mineral) extraction. … There have been other bills like that that we worked on together that I think have been very good for Utah.”
Wilson
“He was very helpful on Utah water issues, including support to the Great Salt Lake and other water projects in the state,” Wilson said.
In this file photo, Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney speaks with Canyon Media radio personality Carl Lamar on St. George Radio about issues of local and national interests while visiting St. George, Utah, Aug. 16, 2022 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St George News
Walton
“I think he carries himself with dignity and poise and I think he understands that the Senate is the upper chamber of Congress,” Walton said. “I also think, especially in his term as a senator, he’s been voting with his conscience.”
There were many things Romney voted on and supported that Walton said he did not agree with, and he noted that there are many Utah voters who have also been frustrated by the way the senator has voted while in office. However, never did he feel that Romney was voting from a place of corruption, but rather honest intent, Walton said.
“I’m glad that he chose to serve and he’s choosing not to continue,” he said. “I thank him for volunteering his time, talents and means.”
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