Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) reportedly “went to the mountains to ponder leaving the Senate” after less than a year and a half in office as he considers running for governor of Utah, with sources blaming “Trump’s MAGA base” as a reason why.
Curtis, a former congressman for Utah’s third congressional district and sometimes critic of President Donald Trump, replaced Mitt Romney in the Senate just 16 months ago.
Despite such a short tenure on the more powerful side of Congress, Politico’s Samuel Benson reported on Monday that Curtis is “already eyeing a possible move back home” and even went on a mountain retreat “to pray and meditate about running” for gubernatorial office in 2028.
Multiple sources told the outlet that operatives working for Curtis have been canvassing donors and allies around the state to gauge support for a bid for governor, and his chief of staff alluded to the door being open for such a decision.
“John Curtis is going to serve where the people of Utah want him to serve,” Corey Norman, Curtis’s chief of staff, told Politico.
In an interview with ABC4 that aired Sunday, Norman said his boss “is an executive problem solver at heart, and in my opinion, he would make an exceptional governor.”
While the senator has been meditating on the future of his political career in the mountains, the SAVE America Act has remained stalled in the Senate.
The Trump-endorsed piece of legislation would require people to show proof of citizenship before voting, which Curtis said he is “really struggling” with due to its limitation of mail-in voting to only those with an illness or disability, or who are in the military.
He also refused Trump’s request to lift the filibuster in order to pass the bill, stating that “the reason or method doesn’t matter — it’s breaking the filibuster.”
Curtis is now planning on pulling off a 250-mile solo walk across Utah to commemorate the U.S.’s 250th birthday, a person close to the senator told Politico.
“The walk will give Curtis additional time to meditate on his political future,” Benson reported.
A source identified as a Utah Republican operative told the outlet that Curtis simply “doesn’t love being in the Senate,” as “Trump’s MAGA base sees him as one of the four squishiest Republicans.”
“He’s basically Mitt [Romney] without the stature,” the operative added.
Pro-Trump Fox News commentator and former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, whom Curtis replaced when he abruptly resigned just six months into his term, is also reportedly aiming to become governor in 2028.
Chaffetz, who served as chair of the House Oversight Committee, is a regular proponent of the Trump administration’s policies on Fox News, while Curtis is more of a Romney-esque figure. When Curtis ran in the special election to fill the vacant seat left by Chaffetz, he won the former presidential candidate’s endorsement.
“Chaffetz is the only one out there right now and folks are looking for an alternative that has the ability to beat him,” another Utah GOP operative told Politico.
“It just sucks that he’s forcing the field to start so early,” they added, speaking on the swirling rumors of Curtis gearing up for his own campaign. “A two-plus year run for governor is absurd.”
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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