How Rom­ney allies are shap­ing the Utah Sen­ate Repub­li­can pri­ma­ry

Asso­ciates and allies of Sen. Mitt Rom­ney (R‑UT) are back­ing the two can­di­dates with the most cen­trist records in the Utah Repub­li­can Sen­ate pri­ma­ry elec­tion, a fine line to walk as the rivals seek to dis­tance them­selves from the out­go­ing sen­a­tor and por­tray them­selves as the con­ser­v­a­tive option.
A num­ber of promi­nent Rom­ney donors and old staffers are back­ing Rep. John Cur­tis and for­mer Utah House Speak­er Brad Wil­son — with Wil­son inher­it­ing a notable por­tion of Utah’s donor class, accord­ing to a review of cam­paign fil­ings with the Fed­er­al Elec­tion Com­mis­sion. 
While the Utah seat is all but cer­tain to main­tain its GOP sta­tus, the pri­ma­ry is heat­ing up to be one of the most com­pet­i­tive of the 2024 cycle, with a crowd­ed list of Repub­li­cans aim­ing to replace Rom­ney. Many o …