More than 60 conservative Utah lawmakers endorsed Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson to run for U.S. Senate, according to Wilson’s spokesperson.
Wilson hasn’t formally announced a run for the Senate but opened an exploratory committee in April for a possible 2024 run for the seat currently held by Sen. Mitt Romney.
“I am honored and encouraged to have the support of so many leaders from all corners of this great state,” said Wilson in a press release.
“Utah needs a bold, conservative fighter in the U.S. Senate and I am humbled at the support and encouragement we’ve received so quickly.”
Romney’s office did not comment on the news, and Romney has not said yet whether he will run for reelection.
Romney is prepared should he decide to run. He filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission in April, allowing his campaign to begin fundraising.
Romney told a CNN reporter in May he’s not in a rush to make a decision.
“It’s just giving myself the time to see how much can get accomplished in the time I have, and in the time I’d have with six more years. There’s no hurry,” he said. “Last time I announced I was running for Senate, I did so in February of the year of the election, and maybe I’ll wait until then.”
He also said “(t)he more the merrier,” about possible primary challengers.
A Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll from June found that 52% of Utah voters either strongly approved or somewhat approved of Romney’s performance. But when asked whether he should run for reelection, 47% said yes and 51% said no.
Meanwhile, three-quarters of Utah House Republicans and over two-thirds of Senate Republicans have thrown their support behind Wilson.
Utah House Majority Leader Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said he has worked alongside Wilson for the past nine years and called Wilson “the conservative champion we need in the U.S. Senate.”
Wilson, Speaker of the House in the Utah Legislature, was first elected to the statehouse in November 2010.
Utah Senate President Stuart Adams called Wilson collaborative and said he has a “history of delivering victories for conservative principles here in Utah.”
“We have worked together to pass tax cuts for Utahns three years in a row, provide parents with unprecedented school choice and expand Second Amendment protections,” said Adams, R-Layton.
If Wilson enters the race he will face Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, who has already announced he is challenging Romney for his seat.
Staggs has also earned endorsements — including from Turning Point USA, a non-profit that advocates for conservative politics in educational institutions, the Utah Republican Veterans’ caucus and the Utah State Fraternal Order of Police.