Former President Donald Trump endorsed Trent Staggs, a Republican mayor searching for to switch retiring Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, in Utah’s GOP major race for the Senate.
“Trent Staggs is 100% MAGA, and is running to fill The Mitt Romney, a Total Loser, Seat as the next Senator from the Great State of Utah,” Trump wrote in a Saturday morning publish on Fact Social. “A Highly Successful Entrepreneur, who has served brilliantly as Mayor of Riverton for the past six years, Trent knows how to Create Jobs, Stop Inflation, Grow the Economy, and Secure the Border.”
“As your next Senator, Trent will help us Unleash American Energy, Support our Military/Vets, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment,” he added. “Trent Staggs has my Complete and Total Endorsement – He will be a GREAT Senator, and never let you down!”
Trump’s endorsement of Staggs got here on the identical day nearly a dozen Republicans — together with former Home Speaker Brad Wilson and present Utah Rep. John Curtis — squared off for the social gathering’s nomination in a race anticipated to disclose the model of political conservatism that the majority appeals to trendy voters within the state.
TRENT STAGGS RECEIVES ENDORSEMENT FROM UTAH’S LARGEST POLICE UNION
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Trent Staggs in Utah’s GOP major race for the Senate on Saturday. (Getty Pictures, Trent Staggs marketing campaign)
Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, who gained notoriety in 2020 for his opposition to masks mandates amid the coronavirus pandemic, announced his decision to enter the race final Could, previous to Romney’s announcement that he would retire from the chamber on the finish of his time period subsequent yr.
“I love my children, and I’m worried about the country they will inherit if I sit on the sidelines,” Staggs advised Fox Information Digital on the time. “For too long, we’ve allowed government bureaucrats to spend away the next generation’s future, and we need more voices willing to push back.”
“Mitt Romney fits in the Senate much better than I do. We’ve elected far too many people who ‘fit in’ in Washington. I’m not going to Washington to make friends, I’m going to make change,” he added.
Romney, who received the GOP nomination for president in 2012 and was later defeated by Barack Obama, introduced in September that he wouldn’t be searching for a second time period within the Senate.
GOP SENATE HOPEFUL LOOKS TO DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM LINK TO TEXAS GREEN ENERGY FIRM
Romney introduced in September that he wouldn’t be searching for a second time period within the Senate. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg by way of Getty Pictures)
In asserting his resolution, Romney declared he is not “retiring from the fight,” and he bashed each President Biden and Trump whereas calling for “a new generation of leaders.”
“I have spent my last 25 years in public service of one kind or another. At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-80s. Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders. They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in,” Romney said in a statement obtained by Fox Information Digital on the time.
Staggs was one of many first candidates to pose a possible problem to Romney and has since picked up endorsements from a number of distinguished Republicans, together with Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, amongst others.
He has additionally obtained the backing of Utah’s largest police union — the Utah Fraternal Order of Police, which labeled Staggs as “a longtime supporter of law enforcement and specifically the FOP.”
Staggs was one of many first candidates to pose a possible problem to Romney and has since picked up endorsements from a number of distinguished Republicans and the state’s largest police union. (Trent Staggs)
“He understands the need to protect our safety as well as our working conditions, and we wholeheartedly endorse his candidacy,” the union stated in a press release to Fox final June.
The winner at Saturday’s state GOP conference, which tends to favor far-right candidates who enchantment to essentially the most zealous social gathering members, might get a bump within the race. Some shedding candidates nonetheless might qualify for the June 25 primary ballot by gathering signatures, so Republican voters will finally determine the social gathering’s decide to succeed Romney.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
