The GOP has a 4 way primary to choose their U.S. Senate candidate this June 2024 and it’s not what the GOP wanted. Republican Party rules seek to avoid a primary if there is a clear consensus candidate in the GOP nominating convention who gains a strong majority of delegate voters. This year the convention nominee Trent Staggs had almost 70% (69.74%) of the delegate vote and emerged from the convention as the only GOP U.S. Senate candidate nominee.
Historically, when the convention didn’t have a strong candidate preference, the two highest vote getters in the convention would face off in a primary election, where Republican voters would choose who the GOP nominee would be. By having only the top 2 candidates move on to a primary, whoever won the primary election would be a “majority” candidate, having gained more than 50% of the primary vote.
However in Utah, SB54 changed all of that by allowing candidates to gather signatures to be on the primary ballot, even if they lost their party’s nomination at convention. This year 3 Republican candidates who lost at convention, will still be on the GOP primary ballot (Curtis 30.26%, Wilson 4.86%, and Walton 3.46%). This sets up a 4 way GOP primary, where the winner could have much less than 50% of the vote. Theoretically, the GOP nominee could win with only 25% of the vote!
Which one will I face in November? Will it be the GOP nominee, Trent Staggs, or one of the other candidates who isn’t really the GOP’s nominee, but who could still be on the November ballot under the GOP party?
I will be 1 of 3 U.S. Senate candidates on the November 2024 ballot, having won the Independent American Party (Utah’s fastest growing political party) nomination.
But who will the GOP nominee be and what percent of the primary vote will they have won? Will they even be a majority candidate, as intended by the primary system in the first place?
I have a question for my GOP friends. If your “nominee” actually lost the GOP nomination by a large percentage in the nominating convention, are they really your nominee?
What will it take to stop the insanity of consistently electing “establishment” Republicans, who go back to Washington and sell out our Utah values by voting for an ever growing unsustainable mountain of U.S. debt, along with annual deficit spending, now topping over 1 trillion dollars per year?
I have a proposal: Let’s break the uni-party! This year, if your GOP nominee wasn’t really your nominee, try something different. Vote Independent for U.S. Senate! Vote for an Independent American.
Carlton E. Bowen is the Independent American U.S. Senate candidate for 2024. He will be 1 of 3 candidates on the Utah November 2024 General Election ballot for U.S. Senate. More information can be found at Carlton4USSenate.com or on X and Facebook by searching “Carlton4USSenate”.