"PROVO, Utah — A pair of moderate Utah Republicans won primary elections Tuesday for U.S. Senate and governor over far-right candidates who are loyalists to former President Donald Trump, the latest example of how Utah is a rare Republican state that doesn’t fully embrace Trump’s stranglehold on the GOP.

U.S. Rep. John Curtis, who won the GOP primary for Mitt Romney’s open U.S. Senate seat, and Gov. Spencer Cox still support Trump and many of his policies but have shown a willingness to stake out different positions on issues where they disagree.

Curtis and Cox both defeated candidates who beat them at the state party convention earlier this year among delegates who lean far right. But in Tuesday’s primary, when Utah’s more muted GOP electorate had its say, they easily scored victories."

Hannah Schoenbaum reports for the Associated Press June 26, 2024. [2]

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