Rep. John Curtis puts 2024 Senate rumors to bed

Photo: Rep. John Curtis

The Republican, who represents Park City in the U.S. House, says he has "made a commitment to the residents of the 3rd District," and that "to walk away now would leave a commitment unfulfilled."

PROVO, Utah – Rep. John Curtis says he won’t enter the 2024 race for Utah’s vacant Senate seat. In an op-ed published in the Deseret News, he said he’d abstain from a Senate race for now.

Curtis’s decision comes after recent speculation about his making a run for retiring Sen. Mitt Romney’s seat.

Curtis represents Utah’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House, which encompasses Wasatch County, Park City and part of Summit County.

In the op-ed, published Oct. 3, Curtis wrote that he has “made a commitment to the residents of the 3rd District,” and that “to walk away now would leave a commitment unfulfilled.”

One of Curtis’s stated reasons to opt out of a Senate run now is his effectiveness in the House, citing a report naming him as the ninth most effective Republican representative.

“My team and I have worked very hard for the last six years to become effective in the House. It’s now time to make this investment count by pursuing my priorities with resolve,” he wrote. One of them, he said, is about energy.

“I have begun a movement that corrects the climate and energy mistakes of the past and puts us on the right course. I believe the path I am pursuing will put Utah at the front of the nation — and our country at the front of the world — in creating sensible, sustainable energy policy,” he wrote.

“Much of the economy of the 3rd District is based on coal, oil and gas. The good people who work in these industries have been told for too long that they are the problem. I believe they are actually part of the solution,” he continued.

Curtis, who was the mayor of Provo from 2010 to 2017, also said he disdains career politicians, writing that he got involved in politics to “challenge the establishment, to replace entrenched incumbents and make way for fresh ideas.”

“The founders never intended for the United States of America to be run by career politicians,” he wrote. “My integrity requires me to be true to the principles our nation was founded on, principles I deeply believe. When I’ve accomplished what I set out to do in the House, it will be time for me to find other ways to serve my community.”

Curtis, who has been the House since 2017, is seeking reelection in 2024.

“I would like to express, one more time, my appreciation to those who have encouraged me and expressed confidence in me,” he wrote in the op-ed. “It means more than you could know. I hope Utahns will understand and appreciate my reasons for wanting to stay the course.”