Rep. John Curtis, a Republican from Utah, had only a few weeks to establish himself in the Senate before he would really take the oath of office to succeed retiring Sen. Mitt Romney the following year.
Curtis, a senator-elect, was one of at least five Republicans who intended to vote against former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s nomination to head the Justice Department, as Senate colleagues and those close to President-elect Donald Trump witnessed.
The opposition proved to be too much for Gaetz, who withdrew from the race Thursday afternoon, showing Trump and his supporters that there are still red lines in a Republican Party that is mostly swayed in his favor. As an early sign of how the Utahn is getting ready for his future job and a preview of the kind of power he might have once he’s there, it also emphasized Curtis’s role in filling in those lines.
The pro-Trump or anti-Trump litmus test that has characterized most of Republican politics over the past eight years should not be used to oversimplify Curtis’ role in Gaetz’s withdrawal, according to those who know him. They instead highlight the statement Curtis made in a primary debate in June: “I’m wind at his back when President Trump is doing anything that I consider aligned with Utah values.” However, I won’t give him my unqualified approval for anything he requests.
He is neither Donald Trump nor Mitt Romney. Former GOP Representative Carlos Curbelo of Florida, who contributed to NBC News and overlapped with Curtis in the House, stated that he had his own brand and was very explicit about it during both his primary and general election. Notably, during Trump’s first Senate impeachment trial in 2020, Romney was the only Republican to vote in favor of his conviction. Over the course of the previous eight years, including six in the Senate, Romney was a vociferous opponent of Trump on many other occasions.
According to Curbelo, you will witness Gaetz defend his beliefs in this episode. At other times, he will be another trustworthy Republican senatorial vote.
The 64-year-old, who was born in Salt Lake City, did his Mormon mission in Taiwan, graduated from Brigham Young University, and met his wife in high school. He and his spouse are parents to six children, seventeen grandkids, and one is on the way. Following over ten years of corporate experience, Curtis was appointed chief operating officer of Action Target, a manufacturer of targets and shooting ranges. In addition to being elected to two terms as mayor of Provo, where he started his now-famous collection of hundreds of pairs of amusing socks that act as icebreakers and discussion starters with his residents, he briefly held a position in the local Democratic Party leadership.
Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who had gained a reputation as a partisan warrior as the leader of the House Oversight Committee that looked into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before and during her 2016 presidential campaign, was replaced by Curtis in a special election to join Congress in 2017. Curtis, the well-liked mayor of the congressional district’s biggest city, defeated attacks from his right flank, which partially criticized his choice to not vote for Trump in the 2016 election, to win a crowded Republican primary field.
“I am still here for you if you’re not white, Mormon, or male,” Curtis said in his victory address that year, arguing that Congress needed bridge builders rather than bomb throwers. That’s the type of message he brought to Washington as a congressman, according to his supporters.
Gary Herbert, a former Republican governor of Utah, told NBC News that he had known the senator-elect since his time on the Utah County Commission, when Curtis was the chair of the local Democratic Party. Curtis was described by Herbert as a pleasant, decent, and likeable person. He added that he thought Curtis was the ideal candidate to visit Washington, therefore he chose to support his quest for Congress.
According to Herbert, Curtis was someone who genuinely wanted to do things, not only to go on cable news and make headlines that way, offering red meat to the devout, but also making an effort to collaborate with everyone, including those on the opposing side of the aisle.
By citing Curtis’ legislative record, Herbert said, “And as a congressman, he proved that to be his modus operandi and he was very capable.”
Curtis has made use of his legislative record, highlighting the passage of legislation he helped pass on matters like as energy, conservation, and Taiwan protection. He bragged about being one of the more effective members of Congress as he ran for the Senate, according to outside study.
As an illustration of how the Utahn was able to bring dozens of conservative politicians to the table on a topic that isn’t often connected with the GOP, Curbelo cited Curtis’ decision to start a Republican-only climate caucus.
John answered, “No, let’s have a caucus that is only for Republicans,” when he was deciding how he would get involved in the matter. “Before they even consider engaging Democrats, Republicans need to learn more about this issue and grow on it,” Curbelo added. It was a really adult and realistic approach to the problem, and it has worked.
His supporters point to conservative stances on debt and immigration. However, the former and future president has been one of the most pressing topics during his time in Washington, much like the majority of Republicans in the Trump period.
Curtis voted against both of the House’s attempts to impeach Trump and has applauded him on matters like tax reform, deregulation, and his Supreme Court appointments. However, he backed censuring Trump after the Capitol riot and voted to create a bipartisan committee to investigate the 2021 attack on the Capitol, but he did not support a lawsuit in Texas to overturn the 2020 election like most of his GOP House colleagues did.
Once more, it has exposed Curtis to criticism from his party’s more conservative faction. Trump weighed in and endorsed Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs after deciding to run for the Senate following Romney’s announcement of his retirement.
With the assistance of well-funded outside organizations, Curtis positioned himself as a proven conservative and won the Republican Senate primary handily. He received just under 50% of the vote in a crowded field that also included a wealthy businessman and the former speaker of the state House.
Reminiscent of his statement after winning his first House race, his Senate campaign victory speech emphasized representing all Utahns and pledged not to add gasoline to the social media fire or provide cable news with clickbait. Rather, Curtis stated that he would be traveling throughout this state in my Ford, conducting the laborious task of passing legislation and completing tasks.
Avoid focusing on the cameras or microphones if you’re unsure of my location. He went on to say that he will be working with colleagues from both parties on the Senate floor to find solutions to our challenging issues.
When Gaetz started meeting with Republican senators, Curtis ended up there. Curtis didn’t rush to the microphones or post on social media to express his position. However, his coworkers and Trump supporters believed they shared his viewpoint, and Curtis’s apparent criticism of Gaetz caused him to quickly distance himself.
The former governor, Herbert, claimed to have texted Curtis, in which the senator-elect acknowledged the difficulty he would face in dealing with some of Trump’s selections and the crucial function the Senate performs under the advice and consent clause of the Constitution.
Naturally, Rep. Gaetz also came up in the discussion as someone who seems to meet the description of the kind of leader we want in the [attorney general’s] office, so we need to really examine him, Herbert added. I believe I was aware of his descent at the time of our conversation.
According to Herbert, the circumstance exemplifies the type of lawmaker Curtis is: he backs Trump when he thinks the president-elect is correct but is also prepared to disagree when necessary with decency, grace, and respect for one another.
“He will refrain from using derogatory language, and he understands that his constituents in Utah want and expect that from their elected representatives,” Herbert stated. In addition to being well-liked, he will remain well-liked as a senator because Utahns want someone who respects the opposition, has integrity, moral principles, and strives to find solutions rather than ways to blow things up.
Herbert went on to say that although he is aware of the legacy left by his predecessors, he will leave the John Curtis legacy for future generations. And that s yet to be written, but I expect it will be a very positive story.
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