An upstart Utah mayor is trying to pull off what would be one of the biggest primary upsets of the 2024 election cycle – knocking off incumbent GOP Sen. Mitt Romney, whom he argues is an interloper and career politician repeatedly out of touch with state voters’ conservative values.
“They have a feeling of being just let down,” city of Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs recently said on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast. “Here’s somebody who came in and moved to the state. That’s something that a lot of Utahns, I think, had to give him a bit of a pass on.”
To be sure, Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP presidential nominee, has long been embraced in Utah, considering he and his family have kept a vacation home in the state for many years. In addition, he and many of the other residents are Mormons. And he helped bring the 2002 Winter Olympics to the state.