Will Utah become the hotbed for the anti-Trump crowd?
It seems that Mitt Romney’s rumored run for U.S. Senate could make it so, according to Lauren Jackson’s report for The Washington Post.
Jackson wrote that Utah and Mormon leaders have often led the charge against President Donald Trump.
Romney was viewed as a hero by many liberals for his #NeverTrump stance. The former presidential candidate is rumored to be considering the run now that Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has announced that he's retiring at the end of the year.
Similarly, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, both members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke out against Trump during the 2016 election cycle.
Since that time, there’s been limited outcry from Utah officials in regard to Trump.
That’s why Romney’s potential election may “revive” the Mormon opposition to Trump, The Washington Post reported.
“I think most Utah Republicans are repulsed by Trump as a person and by his leadership style,” David Magleby, a political science professor at Brigham Young University, told the newspaper. “I think a very large majority of Utahns will vote for Romney if he runs and will support him in office, because most Utahns are morally against Trump.”
BYU political science professor Richard Davis told The Washington Post that Romney would face tremendous pressures to succeed.
“I think there is going to be enormous pressure on him as a freshman senator to do what other Republican senators want him to do, so he’s actually going to have a very difficult time playing the role people think he’s going to play,” he said. “I’m not so sure he’s going to voice the concerns of the disgruntled like they think he will.”
Read more at The Washington Post.
Some are opposed to Romney running for office. On Thursday a writer for The Week made the case that Utah doesn’t need a potential Sen. Romney since Lee has already led the resistance against Trump for so long.
“Utah is a red state where voters don't mistake fealty to Trump for commitment to conservative principles,” according to The Week. “But not every Republican elected there provides an equally compelling alternative. On that, Lee trumps Romney."