The race to replace Utah Sen. Mitt Romney was called for 3rd District Congressman John Curtis by The Associated Press shortly after polls closed Tuesday.

It was fitting that Curtis' victory celebration took place in Provo – his district's largest population center and the place where he had his first taste of elected office. Curtis served as mayor of Utah's fourth-largest city from 2010 until he was elected to Congress in a 2017 special election to fill a vacancy left by former Rep. Jason Chaffetz.

During his time in Congress, Curtis passed 20 bills, making him one of the most prolific legislators in the country. Legislation sponsored by Curtis includes the Emery County Public Land Management Act – which created new public recreation spaces and transferred thousands of acres of federal land to Utah – and the Advanced Nuclear Reactor Prize Act – which awards grants to cover regulatory fees to incentivize new nuclear projects create .

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Curtis made a name for himself among the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives by founding the Conservative Climate Caucus in 2021, which has quickly become one of the largest groups in the House with the goal of giving Republicans a seat at the table in environmental discussions that do not demonize fossil fuels but rather focus on energy innovations.

Gleich, an outdoor influencer and environmental activist, has criticized Curtis for not supporting massive green energy legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act and for receiving campaign contributions from oil and electric companies. During a televised debate, Gleich made it clear that the country's newest state needs to send a new generation of leaders to Congress who will take the “climate crisis” seriously.

Curtis told the Deseret News during an extensive interview while hiking the Lake Mary Trail that approaching climate change as a crisis puts consensus solutions out of reach. But Curtis believes the word “crisis” certainly applies to the country's skyrocketing debt, now at $36 trillion, and to foreign relations, where conflicts are looming or increasing in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and China .

If elected to the Senate, Curtis said, he would prioritize reforming the budget process to incentivize a return to regular budget bills instead of last-minute omnibus packages and to ensure the country's defenses are better protected against cyberattacks and the possible Invasion of Taiwan is prepared.

Curtis will likely join the Beehive State's senior senator, Mike Lee, in a Republican majority in the Senate in the search for a new majority leader. Curtis previously told the Deseret News that he was in “constant contact” with candidates for the position and that he was looking for a figure who could unite diverse factions within the GOP and avoid the dysfunction that plagued the chamber of which Curtis served have.

Curtis emerged from an extremely expensive and occasionally contentious primary race in June with a near majority of support. Curtis' opponents, some of whom had spent millions of their own dollars on the race, accused Curtis of profiting from large outside spending.

In his bid to replace Utah's junior senator, Curtis has portrayed himself as a conservative with little loyalty to partisan labels. He has set a rubric for conditional support for former President Donald Trump based on whether he supports “Utah values.” Curtis defines these values ​​as those of the state's founding pioneers, including faith, hard work, self-reliance and a pragmatic approach to fighting poverty.