Election tracker: The latest on who might run for Romney’s Senate seat

This story will be updated.

The potential primary field in the race to become Utah’s next junior senator immediately began to grow after Sen. Mitt Romney’s announcement in September that he will not seek a second term.

Freedom Front Executive Director Carolyn Phippen announced her candidacy on Wednesday, bringing the number of candidates who have filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission up to seven.

Here’s a list of those who have declared their candidacy, those who appear likely to jump in the race, and others whose names have been thrown around as possible contenders:

Who has declared their candidacy for the 2024 U.S. Senate race in Utah?

• Trent Staggs is the mayor of Riverton, Utah. He has served in elected office in Riverton for 10 years, first as a city councilor and then as mayor.

• Brad Wilson is the former state House speaker, a position he held since 2018. He was first elected to represent Kaysville in the state legislature in 2010.

• Rod Bird Jr. is the mayor of Roosevelt, Utah. Prior to his election in 2017, he founded Paragon Oilfield Products, which provides pipes and hoses for industrial and agricultural use.

• Carolyn Phippen is the executive director of Freedom Front, an advocacy group founded by Utah business leaders. She served as regional director for Sen. Mike Lee from 2018-2021 and before that was chief of communications for former Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes.

• Josh Randall is a certified public accountant and the audit manager for the Utah Trust Lands Administration, according to his LinkedIn account.

• Gabriel Blanco-Lobo is a data scientist in the Salt Lake City area, according to his LinkedIn account.

• Tyrone Jensen is a self-described political commentator who ran for Utah’s 2nd District seat in 2023 and 2020 as a Republican, and as a write-in candidate in the 2018 Senate election.

Who else might enter the 2024 U.S. Senate race in Utah?

• Kirk Jowers is the CEO and founder of ADDAX, an overlanding camper business. Jowers previously worked as president of North America for doTERRA, as director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics and as a legal counsel to congressional and gubernatorial candidates. Sources close to Jowers say he is considering a run.

• Jason Chaffetz is a former congressman and currently works as a Fox News commentator and podcast host. He has also authored several books.

Who’s not running

• Utah Gov. Spencer Cox told Fox 13 he had no plans to enter the race.

• Former Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes also told Fox 13 he will not run.

• Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said Wednesday he had decided not to run.

• Rep. Blake Moore told Axios he is not planning on running.

• Rep. John Curtis told the Deseret News he will not enter the race.

Jason Perry, the director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah, told Politico he’s keeping his eye on Boyd Matheson, a KSL News Radio host and former chief of staff to Sen. Mike Lee; and Brad Bonham, a founder of multiple businesses and the first entrepreneur-in-residence of the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity.

A list of other names being floated as possible 2024 hopefuls was compiled by Deseret News columnists LaVarr Webb and Frank Pignanelli. You can read it here.

When do candidates need to file by?

To have a chance at qualifying for the Utah primary and general election ballots in 2024, candidates will need to fill out forms with the Federal Election Commission, which regulates campaign fundraising, and with the lieutenant governor’s office during the state’s filing period, which is Jan. 2-8.

Utah requires U.S. Senate candidates to pay a $1,355 filing fee and receive their party’s nomination during an official convention or by gathering 28,000 certified signatures for members of registered state parties, or 1,000 for unaffiliated candidates.

The Utah Republican Party nominating convention to select one or two candidates to move on to the primary will be April 27.

The 2024 primary election in Utah will be held on June 25, followed by the general election on Nov. 5, 2024.