Previous President Donald Trump endorsed Trent Staggs, a Republican mayor looking for to change retiring Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, in Utah’s GOP key race for the Senate.
“Trent Staggs is 100% MAGA, and is functioning to fill The Mitt Romney, a Complete Loser, Seat as the following Senator from the Terrific Point out of Utah,” Trump wrote in a Saturday morning submit on Reality Social. “A Very Prosperous Entrepreneur, who has served brilliantly as Mayor of Riverton for the earlier 6 a long time, Trent appreciates how to Develop Work, Cease Inflation, Mature the Financial state, and Protected the Border.”
“As your future Senator, Trent will enable us Unleash American Vitality, Aid our Armed forces/Vets, and Secure our generally less than siege Second Modification,” he added. “Trent Staggs has my Complete and Total Endorsement – He will be a Good Senator, and by no means let you down!”
Trump’s endorsement of Staggs arrived on the exact working day practically a dozen Republicans — such as former House Speaker Brad Wilson and current Utah Rep. John Curtis — squared off for the party’s nomination in a race expected to reveal the manufacturer of political conservatism that most appeals to modern voters in the point out.
TRENT STAGGS Receives ENDORSEMENT FROM UTAH’S Biggest Police UNION
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Trent Staggs in Utah’s GOP principal race for the Senate on Saturday. (Getty Visuals, Trent Staggs campaign)
Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, who gained notoriety in 2020 for his opposition to mask mandates amid the coronavirus pandemic, announced his determination to enter the race last May, prior to Romney’s announcement that he would retire from the chamber at the finish of his expression future yr.
“I adore my youngsters, and I am fearful about the nation they will inherit if I sit on the sidelines,” Staggs explained to Fox Information Electronic at the time. “For far too prolonged, we have authorized governing administration bureaucrats to commit away the following generation’s foreseeable future, and we require far more voices prepared to press again.”
“Mitt Romney fits in the Senate substantially far better than I do. We’ve elected much far too many people today who ‘fit in’ in Washington. I’m not likely to Washington to make good friends, I am going to make adjust,” he extra.
Romney, who gained the GOP nomination for president in 2012 and was afterwards defeated by Barack Obama, introduced in September that he would not be trying to get a 2nd phrase in the Senate.
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Romney declared in September that he would not be seeking a 2nd time period in the Senate. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg by using Getty Images)
In announcing his decision, Romney declared he is not “retiring from the combat,” and he bashed equally President Biden and Trump though contacting for “a new era of leaders.”
“I have spent my previous 25 many years in public company of a person kind or one more. At the conclusion of another term, I’d be in my mid-80s. Frankly, it is time for a new era of leaders. They are the kinds that want to make the selections that will form the world they will be dwelling in,” Romney said in a assertion received by Fox News Electronic at the time.
Staggs was a single of the very first candidates to pose a potential challenge to Romney and has due to the fact picked up endorsements from a number of well known Republicans, which includes Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Arizona Senate applicant Kari Lake, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., previous presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, amongst many others.
He has also obtained the backing of Utah’s biggest police union — the Utah Fraternal Order of Police, which labeled Staggs as “a longtime supporter of legislation enforcement and specially the FOP.”
Staggs was a single of the initially candidates to pose a possible problem to Romney and has because picked up endorsements from numerous popular Republicans and the state’s biggest law enforcement union. (Trent Staggs)
“He understands the will need to defend our basic safety as perfectly as our doing work circumstances, and we wholeheartedly endorse his candidacy,” the union mentioned in a assertion to Fox last June.
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The winner at Saturday’s condition GOP convention, which tends to favor considerably-ideal candidates who attractiveness to the most zealous occasion members, might get a bump in the race. Some getting rid of candidates still may possibly qualify for the June 25 principal ballot by gathering signatures, so Republican voters will in the long run come to a decision the party’s decide to be successful Romney.
The Affiliated Press contributed to this report.
