Just one year into Sen. John Curtis’ first year in the Senate, the Utah Republican enjoys mostly favorable ratings from those in his home state — particularly those who identify as conservative or register as Republicans.
A plurality of voters (42%) say they approve of Curtis’ job performance so far, with 12% saying they strongly approve, according to the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll. That’s compared to just 29% who say they disapprove, split between 18% who only somewhat disapprove and 11% who say they strongly disapprove.
“I am grateful for the trust Utahns have placed in me to deliver solutions and represent our values in the United States Senate,” Curtis said in a statement to the Deseret News. “Hearing different perspectives from constituents is essential to public service — it informs my work and helps me serve more effectively. I remain committed to leading an accessible, transparent, and responsive office.”
Still, there remains a substantial portion of Utahns who say they are unfamiliar with the senator, as another 29% say they “don’t know” how to rate his performance — the same share who said they disapproved. That leaves more than a quarter of voters without an opinion.
However, it appears to be an improvement from this time last year, when a Deseret News poll at the time found that 37% of voters had either never heard of Curtis or they had no opinion.
Curtis may be gaining familiarity with his constituents as the Utah senator has made headlines in recent months as someone who is willing to buck party lines when he feels it necessary.
That was on display most recently last week when Curtis announced he would oppose one of President Donald Trump’s nominees for the State Department, effectively killing the nomination.
Curtis has also been a quiet influence on other legislative matters, including having a crucial role in softening GOP-led proposals to immediately eliminate a slew of clean energy tax credits in Trump’s tax package last summer.
Curtis’ support mostly stems from those who identify as conservatives (56%), but a healthy number of moderates (37%) also say they approve of his performance, the poll showed. More than a quarter of liberals (30%) also said they approved of the junior senator.
Those numbers stayed steady when it came to political affiliation as 56% of Republicans said they approved of the GOP senator, compared to 29% of Democrats and 28% of independents, according to the poll.
The poll was conducted Feb. 11-14 by Morning Consult among 769 registered Utah voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.