US Rep. John Curtis wins Utah GOP primary for Romney’s open seat, while Gov. Spencer Cox also wins

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U.S. Rep. John Curtis receives a hug from his wife Sue after being announced the winner during an election night party, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Provo, Utah. Curtis has won the Utah GOP primary for Mitt Romney’s open U.S. Senate seat, defeating one opponent who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and others who said they supported Trump’s agenda. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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U.S. Rep. John Curtis addresses supporters after his win during an election night party, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Provo, Utah. Curtis has won the Utah GOP primary for Mitt Romney’s open U.S. Senate seat, defeating one opponent who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and others who said they supported Trump’s agenda. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson talk with media during a primary election night party in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (Jeffrey D. Allred/The Deseret News via AP)

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U.S. Rep. John Curtis speaks with reporters after his win during an election night party, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Provo, Utah. Curtis has won the Utah GOP primary for Mitt Romney’s open U.S. Senate seat, defeating one opponent who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and others who said they supported Trump’s agenda. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, left, shakes hands with U.S. Rep. John Curtis following his win during an election night party Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Provo, Utah. Curtis has won the Utah GOP primary for Mitt Romney’s open U.S. Senate seat, defeating one opponent who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and others who said they supported Trump’s agenda. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson talk with media during a primary election night party in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (Jeffrey D. Allred/The Deseret News via AP)

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U.S. Rep. John Curtis hugs his wife Sue while addressing supporters after his win during an election night party, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Provo, Utah. Curtis has won the Utah GOP primary for Mitt Romney’s open U.S. Senate seat, defeating one opponent who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and others who said they supported Trump’s agenda. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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U.S. Rep. John Curtis receives a hug from Wayne Johnson during an election night party Tuesday, June 25, 2024, at a park in Provo, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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Trent Staggs carries a “Utah For Trump flag” during a rally on June 14, 2024, in Orem, Utah. Staggs waved a “Utah for Trump” flag at a recent campaign rally in his latest reminder to Utah voters that he’s backed by the former president in the race to replace U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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U.S. Rep. John Curtis poses with his family following his win during an election night party, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Provo, Utah. Curtis has won the Utah GOP primary for Mitt Romney’s open U.S. Senate seat, defeating one opponent who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and others who said they supported Trump’s agenda. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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FILE - U.S. Rep. John Curtis, left, reacts to a statement made by Trent Staggs, right, following the Utah Senate primary debate for Republican contenders battling to win the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney on June 10, 2024, in Salt Lake City. Curtis, who is considered the front-runner, has pitched himself as the alternative to Trump-backed Riverton Mayor Staggs and two other contenders, who have spent much of the race arguing over whose policy positions most closely align with Trump’s. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool, File)

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FILE - Mitt Romney smiles during a campaign event, June 20, 2018, in American Fork, Utah. Republican voters in Utah will decide on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, whether the state’s most famous moderate conservative, retiring U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, will be succeeded by someone just as willing to challenge GOP hardliners or a farther-right candidate who pledges to fall in line with former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

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FILE - U.S. Rep. John Curtis speaks during the Utah Senate primary debate for Republican contenders battling to win the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney on June 10, 2024, in Salt Lake City. Curtis, who is considered the front-runner, has pitched himself as the alternative to Trump-backed Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs and two other contenders, who have spent much of the race arguing over whose policy positions most closely align with Trump’s. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool, File)

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FILE - Utah Gov. Spencer Cox speaks during a news briefing on March 1, 2024, in Salt Lake City. Cox is also set to face his primary challenger, state Rep. Phil Lyman, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Cox, the moderate Republican, who took office in 2021, is expected to win among primary voters even after he was booed earlier this year by GOP convention delegates, who tend to lean farther right. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

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Utah State Rep. Phil Lyman, who is running for governor, speaks during a rally on June 14, 2024, in Orem, Utah. Lyman is best known for organizing an illegal ATV ride in 2014 to protest federal officials closing a southeast Utah canyon to motorized vehicles to protect Native American cliff dwellings, artifacts and burial sites. A judge in 2015 sentenced him to 10 days in jail and three years of probation after a jury found him guilty of misdemeanor illegal use of ATVs and conspiracy. Trump later pardoned him in December 2020. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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FILE - Utah 2nd Congressional District Republican Celeste Maloy speaks after winning an Utah special election to replace her former boss US Rep. Chris Stewart during a election night party on Nov. 21, 2023, in West Valley City, Utah. Trump-backed Maloy is seeking her first full term on Capitol Hill after winning a special election last fall. She faces challenger Jenkins, a retired U.S. Army officer and telecommunications specialist, who is endorsed by Romney’s counterpart, U.S. Sen. Mike Lee. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

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FILE - U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy, right, R-Utah, and Colby Jenkins look on during Utah’s 2nd Congressional district debate on Monday, June 10, 2024, at the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City. Trump-backed Maloy is seeking her first full term on Capitol Hill after winning a special election last fall. She faces challenger Jenkins, a retired U.S. Army officer and telecommunications specialist, who is endorsed by Romney’s counterpart, U.S. Sen. Mike Lee. (Scott G. Winterton/The Deseret News via AP, Pool, File)

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U.S. Rep. John Curtis addresses supporters as his wife Sue looks on after his win during an election night party, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Provo, Utah. Curtis has won the Utah GOP primary for Mitt Romney’s open U.S. Senate seat, defeating one opponent who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and others who said they supported Trump’s agenda. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, left, hugs U.S. Rep. John Curtis following his win during an election night party Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Provo, Utah. Curtis has won the Utah GOP primary for Mitt Romney’s open U.S. Senate seat, defeating one opponent who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and others who said they supported Trump’s agenda. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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U.S. Rep. John Curtis receives a hug from a supporter following his win during an election night party, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Provo, Utah. Curtis has won the Utah GOP primary for Mitt Romney’s open U.S. Senate seat, defeating one opponent who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and others who said they supported Trump’s agenda. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM

PROVO, Utah (AP) — A pair of moderate Utah Republicans won primary elections Tuesday for U.S. Senate and governor over far-right candidates who are loyalists to former President Donald Trump, the latest example of how Utah is a rare Republican state that doesn’t fully embrace Trump’s stranglehold on the GOP.

U.S. Rep. John Curtis, who won the GOP primary for Mitt Romney’s open U.S. Senate seat, and Gov. Spencer Cox still support Trump and many of his policies but have shown a willingness to stake out different positions on issues where they disagree.

Curtis and Cox both defeated candidates who beat them at the state party convention earlier this year among delegates who lean far right. But in Tuesday’s primary, when Utah’s more muted GOP electorate had its say, they easily scored victories.

Their wins make Curtis and Cox heavy favorites in November’s general election in a state that leans heavily Republican.

A crowd of Curtis supporters gathered at a park in Provo erupted in cheers as the race call came in. The congressman hugged his children and grandchildren, many covered head to toe in “John Curtis for U.S. Senate” stickers, between congratulatory phone calls from U.S. Sen. Mike Lee and other Utah officials.

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“Tonight is a night to celebrate, but tomorrow we go back to work,” Curtis told the crowd. “Thank you for the best campaign in the history of the world.”

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Curtis will face off in November against Democratic nominee Caroline Gleich in a state that has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1970.

Romney said Utah will be fortunate to have Curtis in the Senate.

“John Curtis is a man of honor and integrity who cares deeply about our fellow citizens and the future of our country. We need more leaders like him,” he wrote Tuesday night on the social media platform X.

Curtis, 64, began his political career as a county level Democratic Party official before running for Provo mayor as a Republican. He has been compared to Romney for pushing back against hard-liners in his party, particularly on climate change.

Gordon Robinson and his wife Lynette Robinson celebrated just down the street from their house in Provo, where Curtis was once their neighbor. The couple said they respect his environmental policies and his support for providing military aid to Ukraine as it fends off a Russian invasion.

“What I like about him is he’s willing to work on the other side and compromise with people,” Gordon Robinson said. “But he doesn’t waver on the issues that matter most.”

The Democratic nominee Gleich, a mountaineer and environmental activist, said Tuesday that Curtis, who leads the Conservative Climate Caucus on Capitol Hill, is “no moderate.” She accused him of pandering to the fossil fuel industry instead of supporting policies she says are needed to protect public lands, air and water.

In Tuesday’s primary, Curtis defeated Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, who was little known outside his Salt Lake City suburb before Trump’s endorsement gave him a boost. But Trump’s support was not enough.

The former president’s brash style and comments about refugees and immigrants do not sit well with many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church, who make up about half of the state’s 3.4 million residents.

Even some voters who cast their ballots for Staggs, such as Erica Goulding of Heber City, said they were not fans of Trump but supported his Senate pick because they didn’t think Curtis was conservative enough.

The Staggs campaign did not respond to messages seeking comment Tuesday night.

Cox, a moderate Republican who took office in 2021, prevailed in the primary after he was booed earlier this year by GOP convention delegates. Cox defeated state Rep. Phil Lyman, a former county commissioner turned state legislator who espoused false claims of election fraud following the 2020 presidential election.

After his win, Cox said he was proud of Utah voters.

“Tonight we restored our faith in the Republican Party and our faith in the people of Utah. They don’t respond to the lies, to the made up conspiracy theories,” he said.

Lyman told reporters at his election night event he would not concede until results were verified.

Cox will face Democratic nominee Brian King, a state representative, in November. Utah hasn’t had a Democrat in the governor’s office since 1985.

King congratulated Cox on his primary victory, but said voters in November will “hold him accountable for his record.” He said many in Utah think the state is headed in the wrong direction and they are struggling with the rising cost of housing and groceries.

“While Utah’s economy is working for those at the top, everyone else is being left behind — which has been typical during Governor Cox’s tenure over the past four years,” King said.

Also Tuesday, state Sen. Mike Kennedy defeated four other Republicans battling for the open 3rd District U.S. House seat that Curtis is vacating to run for Senate.

In Utah’s 2nd District, it was too early to call a race in which Trump-backed U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy is seeking her first full term on Capitol Hill after winning a special election last fall. She is facing challenger Colby Jenkins, a retired U.S. Army officer and telecommunications specialist, who is endorsed by Romney’s counterpart, Lee.