Utah Mayor Trent Staggs says he's the only 'America First' Republican running for Senate

Riverton, Utah, Mayor Trent Staggs is on a mission to replace retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) to give Republicans a boost in the "America First" brand of GOP senators.

But according to Breitbart, Romney is "still on the ballot" with two establishment-type Republicans vying to take Romney's seat.

Staggs has pleaded with Utah voters to take this election cycle as an opportunity to elect a true conservative senator -- someone to represent them who's more like "Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Rick Scott (R-FL)."

Conservatives have a strong power hold in the Republican-led House but lack the same gravitas in the Senate. Staggs hopes to change that, but warned that the other two Republicans running for Romney's seat would nullify that opportunity if elected.

BREAKING: Trent Staggs (@MayorStaggs) officially files to run for U.S. Senate in Utah for outgoing Senator Mitt Romney’s seat. pic.twitter.com/334yXivEzg

— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) January 2, 2024

Breitbart noted:

Staggs named former Utah Speaker Brad Wilson as one of these “hand-picked” establishment candidates to succeed Romney. He said that Wilson helped pass the “RINO Protection Act,” a measure that reformed the caucus-convention system to make it harder for insurgent, conservative candidates to become the Republican nominee.

Wilson's candidacy, according to Breitbart, is strongly backed by "Never Trump, Democrat, and Mitt Romney donors," making it difficult -- at least from a monetary perspective -- for Staggs to compete.

Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) is another establishment Republican named by Staggs. Curtis is one of the more recent entrants into the race to replace Romney.

"John is somebody who has been in Congress since 2017. He was a lifelong Democrat before switching parties," Staggs said.

Staggs added, "This is someone who supported the January 6 Committee, supported the impeachment inquiry into former President Trump, he said he deliberated heavily into voting for impeachment."

The Riverton mayor bragged on his recent endorsements by powerhouse conservatives, hoping to convince voters that he's the type of Republican conservative senator who should represent the state in the upper chamber.

"I’m the only America First candidate in this race and I have been so lucky to have been endorsed by a bunch of great conservatives, like Mark Levin, Charlie Kirk, Kash Patel, like Kari Lake," Staggs said.

Going by social media, Staggs seems to already have solid support and is well-liked by conservatives.

Only time will tell if he's able to muster the support and fundraising necessary to compete and hopefully win in 2024.