“Utah’s 2024 U.S. Senate Republican primary election debate was mostly a ho-hum affair,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

“That is until the final seconds of the hourlong debate when Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs insinuated that Rep. John Curtis was guilty of insider trading, drawing an angry response from the congressman.”

“Brent Orrin Hatch on Tuesday filed as a candidate running for Mitt Romney’s Senate seat, which was previously held by Hatch’s father, the late Sen. Orrin Hatch,” KSL reports.

“Although he hasn’t held any elected office, Hatch previously worked in Washington as an associate White House counsel to President George H.W. Bush and a law clerk to former Judge Robert H. Bork.”

Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) made his much-rumored intentions to fill Mitt Romney’s Senate seat official Tuesday, the Deseret News reports.

He will file paperwork with the state Wednesday morning.

Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) “took a pass on running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Mitt Romney,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

“Now, the Third District Republican may be close to making an about-face on that decision.”

Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson (R) is set to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat Mitt Romney is vacating, the AP reports.

Utah Speaker Brad Wilson (R) said yesterday that he would resign from the legislature, stoking speculation that he’ll run for retiring Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) seat, the Deseret News reports.

“Robert O’Brien, former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, is not going to run for Mitt Romney’s Senate seat despite being urged to by members of Congress,” Politico reports.

“Sen. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012 and the only member of his party to twice vote to convict former president Donald Trump in politically charged impeachment trials, announced Wednesday that he will not seek a second term in the Senate representing Utah,” the Washington Post reports.

“Romney, 76, said his decision not to run again was heavily influenced by his belief that a second term, which would take him into his 80s, probably would be less productive and less satisfying than the current term has been.”

Said Romney: “At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-80s. Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders. They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in.”

Wall Street Journal: “If he runs, Romney could face a wrenching primary contest, and one potential rival has piled up endorsements. He also will need to decide whether he wants another six potentially lonely years on Capitol Hill.”

“He said he expects to make a decision in the fall, possibly around October… He isn’t currently acting like someone running for re-election.”

“A decade ago, Mitt Romney was arguably one of the most well-known Republicans in the country,” National Journal reports.

“He was a two-time presidential candidate and one time nominee. Each time, he had overwhelming support from Utahans. Though he lost the state’s unique caucus-convention by a narrow margin when he ran for Senate in 2018, Republicans rallied behind him in the primary on his way to a landslide victory against a conservative candidate.”

“But come 2024 Romney will be facing a different Republican Party and a different electorate in Utah that may have grown frustrated with his fights with former President Trump.”

Brad Wilson (R), the speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, announced that his exploratory committee for U.S. Senate raised $2.2 million last quarter and has $2.1 million in cash on hand, Axios reports.

Just over $1 million of that was raised from donors, with Wilson adding $1.2 million in a personal contribution.

“Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) has drawn a Republican primary challenger who launched his campaign by criticizing the first-term senator for having supported bipartisan spending deals, voting to convict President Donald Trump in his two impeachment trials and voting to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trent Staggs, the mayor of Riverton, Utah, a municipality of about 45,000 people near Salt Lake City, kicked off his bid Tuesday with a video in which he also highlighted Romney’s former residency in Massachusetts — where he served as governor from 2003 to 2007 — and accused Romney of breaking promises made in his 2018 Senate campaign.”

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) “quietly took the first step toward a reelection bid this week by filing a declaration of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

“While the move is not a definitive indicator that Romney plans to run for another U.S. Senate term in 2024, it’s the strongest hint yet about his intentions.”

Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) is leaving the door open to challenging Mitt Romney (R) in 2024 as the Utah senator mulls his own reelection plans, the Washington Examiner reports.

Associated Press: “After four years in Washington, Republican Mitt Romney has established himself as a rare senator willing to publicly rebuke members of his own party.”

“But the Utah senator’s outspoken stances, along with his willingness to work with Democrats, have angered some Republicans in the deep-red state he represents and led them to cast about for someone to try to dethrone him a primary race next year.”

“The 75-year-old said that he hasn’t made a decision on whether to run for reelection in 2024 and doesn’t expect to until the start of summer.”

Associated Press: “The race has been inundated with outside spending, with super PACs unaffiliated with either the Lee or McMullin campaign spending heavily on glossy mailers and attack ads on the local affiliates of the four major television networks in the lead-up to the midterm elections.”

“The amount of money pouring into the race reflects how McMullin has turned Utah from a political afterthought to a legitimate battleground. The outside spending supporting him also illustrates the traditional partisan dynamics at play in the independent-versus-Republican race and the emerging reality that some Democratic Party-aligned groups and donors see McMullin — an anti-abortion conservative — as one path toward preventing Republicans from controlling the Senate.”

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) “has turned down an opportunity to participate in a nationally televised, Fox News-hosted debate with independent challenger Evan McMullin,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

“While Lee has made several individual Fox News appearances over the past several weeks to drum up support for his unexpectedly close reelection bid and to attack his opponent, the senator declined the opportunity to appear on the national program alongside his competition.”

“At a Utah debate on Monday night, independent Senate candidate Evan McMullin forcefully criticized Republican incumbent Sen. Mike Lee for Lee’s efforts, prior to January 6, 2021, to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory,” CNN reports.

“Lee’s response was to rewrite history.”

“Lee tried, as he did earlier this year, to downplay his actions. But his own text messages contradict his debate narrative – providing clear evidence that he did far more to try to reverse Biden’s win than he now claims.”