CNN forecasts that Trump-supported Senate contender will fall short in contest for Romney's seat.
64-year-old Curtis is poised to win a four-way primary, with Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, who received backing from the ex-president and the state Republican Party, falling short. In the upcoming November general election, Curtis is expected to steamroll in the extremely red state, which hasn't voted a Democrat into the US Senate since 1970.
Although anti-Trump Republicans are losing a notable figure in Romney, Curtis maintains a distance from the former president in a state that, while heavily Republican, doesn't always support the most hardcore conservative candidates in GOP primaries. Curtis didn't support Trump during this year's Republican presidential primary, but he generally aligned with the former president during Trump's term in office.
The head honcho of the Conservative Climate Caucus in D.C., Curtis is known for organizing "hiking town hall" events, where he invites voters to join him for a chat while he shows them some of the state's breathtaking spots.
Trump endorsed Staggs in April, just hours before the mayor managed to secure a spot on the primary ballot by outdoing Curtis at the state party convention. Such events tend to cater to the party's die-hard members, and candidates haven't always thrived in primaries, which attract a more diverse range of Republican voters. (Curtis made it onto the primary ballot by gathering enough signatures.)
Staggs, who fiercely opposed Covid-19 measures as Mayor of Riverton (a suburb of Salt Lake City), posted a video on social media last week featuring the former president praising him as "a fantastic person running for the seat of one of the most pathetic senators in Republican Party history, Mitt Romney."
However, in the video, Trump admitted that Staggs was something of an underdog.
Curtis entered Congress in 2017, winning a special election to replace Republican former Rep. Jason Chaffetz. Prior to that, he served as the mayor of Provo, the state's fourth most populous city.
CNN's Andrew Menezes contributed to this report.
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Despite Trump endorsing Staggs, the former president's supported candidate might not emerge victorious in the primary, as 64-year-old Curtis, who maintains a distance from Trump in the Republican-leaning state, could potentially outperform Staggs in the primary.
In the video, Trump acknowledged Staggs as an underdog, indicating that he might face challenges against the head honcho of the Conservative Climate Caucus, Curtis, in the primary election.
