Potential Romney Rival Raises More Than $2 Million After Launching Exploratory Committee

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is surrounded by reporters as he walks to the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington on June 10, 2021. J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) hasn’t officially announced whether he will run for a second term, but if he does run, he may have a well-known and well-financed primary opponent in Utah state Rep. Brad Wilson, speaker of the Utah House of Representatives.

In April, Mr. Wilson announced that he is exploring a run for the U.S. Senate in 2024.

On Tuesday, Mr. Wilson’s exploratory committee released a statement touting its fundraising success and the efforts of Mr. Wilson to listen and engage with the people of Utah to help inform him as he considers whether to run.

Mr. Wilson, a successful real estate developer, may be moving closer to committing to taking on Mr. Romney, who has lost support among conservatives, many of whom are angered that he twice voted to remove former President Donald Trump from office.

Mr. Wilson, 54, was elected to the Utah House of Representatives in 2010. He has served as speaker since 2019 and has a record as a prolific and successful fundraiser.

“Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson announced today he raised over two million dollars in his first quarter since launching his exploratory committee to consider a run for the U.S. Senate in 2024,” Mr. Wilson’s committee said in a statement.

“Wilson’s impressive haul sets a new fundraising record in Utah for the first quarter for a GOP U.S. Senate candidate or potential candidate for both total raised from donors and total contributions on the first quarterly report,” the committee said.

Candidate Finances

The statement broke down the fundraising numbers: total money raised ($2,218,586), donations from donors ($1,018,586), percentage from Utah (94 percent), cash on hand (more than $2.1 million), and a personal loan ($1.2 million).

The Wilson committee emphasized that 94 percent of contributions to Mr. Wilson’s nascent campaign are from within the state of Utah.

The Romney campaign has $600,000 on hand. Mr. Romney, 76, is also a capable fundraiser and can call on his immense personal wealth, estimated at $300 million, according to Deseret News.

Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics released a poll in June showing that Mr. Romney has lost the support of Utah voters in 2023.

The poll showed that 41 percent of voters said they approved of Mr. Romney’s performance; 49 percent said they disapproved, and 10 percent said they didn’t know.

These numbers represent a drop of 11 points since March when another poll from Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics found that 52 percent of voters either strongly approved or somewhat approved of Mr. Romney’s performance.

Republican Factions

Utah is a deeply conservative state, which may work in Mr. Wilson’s favor.

Mr. Romney is often criticized by the more conservative factions of the Republican Party for aligning himself with Democrats and not supporting conservative efforts, and because of the fact that he voted twice to remove Mr. Trump from office.

A Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll published in early June had Mr. Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis almost tied in support among Utah Republican voters, with Mr. Trump at 27 percent and Mr. DeSantis at 26 percent.

But Mr. Trump has a history in Utah of rebounding with the voters.

In the 2016 Utah Republican presidential caucus, Mr. Trump finished third with just 14 percent of the vote. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) won with 69 percent of the delegates, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich finished second with 17 percent.

In the 2016 general election, Mr. Trump handily won Utah, with 45.5 percent of the vote to Hillary Clinton’s 27.5 percent. In that election, Utah native Evan McMullin, running as an independent, made a strong showing in the state with 21.5 percent of the vote.

Four years later in Utah, Mr. Trump beat President Joe Biden with 58.1 percent to 37.6 percent.

“Since announcing an exploratory committee for U.S. Senate, I have traveled to every corner of the state to meet with Utahns,” Mr. Wilson said in the statement his committee released. “Their message is loud and clear: Utah wants a bold, proven, conservative leader in the U.S. Senate.

“I am encouraged by the enthusiastic support we’ve received so far. This finance report is only the beginning and shows that, should I decide to run, we will have the resources and firepower we need to get our message out—and win.”

Mr. Wilson will decide by this fall whether he will run for Senate, a committee spokesman said.