Utah Republicans Blink In Battle With Romney
Utah lawmakers had Romney on the ropes and could have at the very least publicly censured him, however, they blinked.
Republican lawmakers in Utah have said that they will not consider any proposals to censure or recall Senator Mitt Romney, the only Republican to vote to convict President Trump. Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson said the Republican caucus after a “robust debate” behind closed doors, decided not to advance any proposal censuring Romney.
Instead, Wilson is going to present a citation thanking President Trump for his administration’s work on issues “critical to Utah.”
Republicans in the Utah Senate have also stated they will join the citation thanking Trump but do not want to publicly rebuke Romney.
The day after the impeachment vote Romney returned to Utah and he immediately went to legislative leaders to “explain” his decision. Apparently, he kissed up to them enough that he pacified Republican leaders who claimed to be very concerned over the way he voted.
There was a separate proposal that didn’t mention Romney’s name, the bill would have allowed voters to petition to have their senator recalled which would then go on the next upcoming ballot. Utah state Rep. Tim Quinn who made the proposal was asked by the Deseret News if he was targeting Romney who will not be up for re-election until 2025 he said:
“I know that’s what’s going to be the narrative. If it were, then it might make sense to have a sunset on it. That would not be the case.”
He then concluded saying, “six years is a long time.”
Despite Utah Republicans balking over censuring Romney, the voters are furious. In the third quarter of 2019 65% of Republicans supported Romeny however, that support has now dropped to 57% which for an incumbent in a red state is rock bottom. To no surprise, Romeny did receive more support from Democrats in his state but that’s not going to help him because Utah is one of the reddest states in the country.
The Morning Consult stated is surveyed 494,899 different registered US voters from Oct 1st to Dec 31, 2019.
Associated Press | Fox News | Deseret News