Republican Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, who backed Donald Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results, is reportedly gearing for a Senate run that could put him up against GOP Sen. Mitt Romney in 2024.
Politico reported Wednesday that Reyes in recent weeks has discussed the matter with key players in Utah politics and with allies of the former president, according to a person who is familiar with Reyes’ plans. Reyes will make a final decision and likely announce his intentions in May.
“Sean is very seriously considering running, regardless if Mitt runs or not,” the source told Politico. “He’s confident that regardless of what Sen. Romney wants to do, he’s going to pursue this.”
Romney, 75, has not said whether he would seek a second term. He has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics in the Senate and has sparred multiple times with the former president since taking office in 2018.
“I guarantee Trump will come up with somebody,” Utah Republican Party Chairman Carson Jorgensen, told Politico. “There’s enough vitriol there that no matter if Trump is running for president, he will run a candidate against Romney.”
A Trump loyalist who served as Utah co-chairman for Trump’s reelection campaign, Reyes had one-on-one meetings with the former president in September and December 2020, said the person familiar with Reyes’ plans, and each time Trump encouraged him to run against Romney.
“When he meets with Trump, the only thing that comes up is ‘Will you run against Romney? I need you to run against Romney. Get that guy out,’” the person recalled.
A spokesperson for Trump didn’t directly say whether Trump has encouraged Reyes to run for the seat, according to Politico.
Reyes has not responded to requests for comment. Reyes, who has served as attorney general since 2012, has long been rumored to have interest in federal office.
Alan Crooks, Reyes’ general consultant on the campaign, won’t say whether the attorney general will run but told KSL Newsradio that Reyes is “well set up for whatever he wants to do in politics.”
Days after the 2020 election, Reyes announced he was taking personal leave to “help prepare and support litigation” in battleground states where Trump lost the election. He later signed on to a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and more than a dozen other Republican attorneys general seeking to overturn election results in key battleground states, though the effort ultimately failed.
Trump adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle called Reyes “both substantive and magnetic,” and added that “there is a reason” why he was selected to speak on the final day of the Republican convention in 2020, according to Politico.
“Many of us who served President Trump have enthusiastically encouraged him to run for Senate regardless of what Mitt decides to do,” Guilfoyle said.
Another Trump ally, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Politico Reyes is “respected within Trump world and obviously has a future in politics,” noting his work as a campaign surrogate and on Trump’s fundraising committee during the last presidential election. Reyes also worked closely with the Trump White House on initiatives like human trafficking.
Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Ally Isom, a Republican currently challenging Sen. Mike Lee in a GOP primary, are other names being floated as possible 2024 contenders for Romney’s seat.
Romney on Wednesday declined to comment about his 2024 plans.
“That isn’t something I’m prepared to decide yet or communicate,” he said, according to Politico. ”But were I to decide to run again, the best news I could get would be that Sean Reyes was my opponent.”