On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a former governor of Massachusetts, garnered his first likely challenger for the seat in 2024.
Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson told Deseret News before the announcement, “I was born here, I was raised here … and I raised my family here … and as an elected official, and as Speaker of the House, I’ve really loved the opportunity that we’ve had to keep government small and out of people’s lives, it’s part of why Utah is so special.”
He added, “I really believe that what Washington needs is to be a lot more like Utah. We’ve got this amazing opportunity to send Utah values back to D.C., and to have a conservative fighter back there, doing things back there the way we do them here in the Beehive State.”
“I’ve been in elected office for a while. And one thing that I know is these offices don’t belong to any of us individually, they belong to the people that elect us,” he said. “And so my decision is going to be based on what I hear from people, what I believe is in the best interest of the state of Utah, and what is, quite frankly, in the best interest of my family.”
The move comes after Romney has repeatedly sided with Democrats, including a vote to convict President Donald J. Trump during the partisan impeachment.
Romney has reportedly not yet reached a final decision on whether to run in 2024.
“I’m confident that I would win if I decide to run,” Romney claimed. “I’ll have the resources, and I believe the people of Utah would be with me.”
Wilson has been speaker of the Utah House of Representatives since 2019, served as Republican majority leader from 2017 to 2019, and has been in the chamber since 2011.