In Utah’s quixotic primary system, the candidate who wins the endorsement at initial party conventions may attract a lot of headlines. But in recent years, that hasn’t necessarily translated into success at the ballot box.
Such is the feeling of several Utah Republicans we talked to after the April 27 convention, which helped winnow the field to succeed retiring Sen. Mitt Romney, and also saw Gov. Spencer Cox lose the support of more conservative delegates. However, Cox should be fine in the June 25 primary.
It’s the highly-anticipated Senate race where the majority of attention will be focused over the next seven weeks. Although Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs won the party endorsement — after raucous delegates were spurred on by an 11th-hour endorsement from Donald Trump — Utah is the unique state where Trump’s blessing isn’t necessarily a guarantee of victory in a GOP primary. The June 25 race will determine whether the Beehive State’s next senator is more closely aligned philosophically and stylistically with the outgoing Romney, or the state’s more hardline conservative senator, Mike Lee.
Staggs garnered the
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