A Republican primary election win this week by a moderate mayor seeking to replace Jason Chaffetz in Congress shows once again that Utah’s new dual-track political nominating system allows more moderate candidates to win GOP nominations in Utah even if they don’t win the vote of far-right leaning delegates at party conventions.
Provo Mayor John Curtis won Tuesday’s primary election two months after losing the party convention to more conservative former lawmaker Chris Herrod.
Curtis’s win came a year after Gov. Gary Herbert won his primary after losing at the convention. In 2010, longtime Sen. Bob Bennet was ousted at the convention.