The primary in Utah’s 3rd Congressional District demonstrates the divide in the Republican party as ultraconservative Trump supporter Chris Herrod aims to unseat the more moderate incumbent John Curtis.
But this is not the first time these two Provo residents have faced off in a political contest.
In a 2007 special election for a newly vacant state House seat, Provo delegates narrowed the field to Herrod and Curtis but neither cleared the 60 percent threshold needed to secure the spot.
So Enid Greene, then chair of the Utah GOP, appointed Herrod even though he had received fewer delegate votes than Curtis. Herrod served in the state House through 2012.
In 2017, Curtis and Herrod tangled again in another special election, this time for the 3rd Congressional seat vacated by Jason Chaffetz. While delegates again favored Herrod at convention, Curtis beat out Herrod in the three-way primary.
In 2018, Herrod again challenged Curtis for the seat, and primary voters gave Curtis the win.
“We’re neighbors, our kids know each other. And somehow our fate keeps bringing us back,” Curtis said of their rivalry during a May 27 debate hosted by the Utah Republican Party.
At that event, the 56-year-old Herrod spoke out against inflation, Critical Race Theory and allowing transgender youth to participate on girl’s sports tems as he summed up his renewed bid for the 3rd Congressional slot.
“I do believe that we’re at a critical junction in America and we have very little time to fix things. If we don’t fix them quickly then our country will disintegrate,” Herrod said.
Curtis, 62, told the debate audience he didn’t take his role in Congress lightly: “It’s very important to me that I walk away from this and feel like I’ve represented all of you.”
By phone, Curtis said another term would allow him to keep building on work he’s accomplished during his four and a half years in Congress.
“I feel like I have some things underway that are very important for the District,” Curtis said. “There’s a lot of work ahead to do as well.”
Who is John Curtis?
Before joining Congress, Curtis – a small business owner – served two terms as Provo’s mayor, a role in which he cultivated citizen engagement and enjoyed unusually high approval ratings.
According to his Congressional website, Curtis “cares deeply about hearing the diverse perspectives and feedback from his constituents,” holding over 100 town halls during his first full year in office.
Now seeking a third term, Curtis touted his launch of the Conservative Climate Caucus, along with membership on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee as solid reasons he should be re-elected.
The Conservative Climate Caucus acknowledges the changing climate and the global focus on fossil fuels that contribute to global warming.
The 70-plus member caucus supports “cheaper, reliable and cleaner” energy, but also advocates for continued use of fossil fuels as part of the global solution, his website says.
“It’s really taken root,” Curtis said of the caucus by phone. “Who would have ever said that Republicans would band together to talk about reducing emissions – and yet it’s a third of all House Republicans and the second largest caucus.”
The aim, Curtis added, is national independence and security, affordable energy rates and reliability – all while reducing emissions. By focusing on clean natural gas and nuclear power, he sees a path to achieve all those goals without “killing our fossil fuel industry to do it.”
Curtis touted U.S. natural gas as burning much cleaner than Russian natural gas.
“If we want to talk about reducing emissions, we should be exporting U.S. natural gas,” Curtis said. “It doesn’t have to be either-or for the U.S. economy.”
Who is Chris Herrod?
During his time in the Utah House, Herrod – a real estate developer by profession – co-founded the Patrick Henry Caucus in 2009, stumping for states rights and taking power back from the federal government.
Dubbed the “fab five,” this band of Utah lawmakers gained national notoriety after catching the attention of right wing pundit Glenn Beck.
In a June 2018 podcast, Beck described Herrod as “another Mike Lee.”
Herrod also helped organize Utah’s first Tea Party Rally in 2010.
In a recent phone interview, he shared some of his concerns.
“My kids now, because of inflation, will be lucky to get a home ever … we’ve really been living in a planned economy for the last couple of years,” Herrod said, blaming much of the current fiscal gloom on Pres. Joe Biden’s policies.
“Also, I’m greatly concerned about our energy independence,” Herrod said while taking aim at Curtis. “I don’t think that John had the right philosophy about that either.”
Herrod supports expanding oil and gas drilling in the U.S. as a safeguard against mounting national debt and inflation – and he sees little use for global efforts prescribed by the Paris Climate Agreement.
“As long as China and India do not abide by it, to me it makes no sense for us to severely limit our ability to address the debt,” Herrod said.
Herrod gave more detail during the May debate: “I truly believe that energy independence and being a net exporter of energy is the one way we realistically get out of the crisis that we’re in. If we don’t do that, we’re in serious trouble.”
More on the issues
In response to a debate question about how to curb inflation, Curtis spread the blame to both sides of the aisle.
“Just over a year and a half ago … Pres. Biden spent $1.9 trillion and threw it into an already on fire economy,” Curtis said. “And that’s been followed up with more and more spending, as if we’re a drunken sailor.”
But Curtis also credited Republicans with similar behavior.
“One of my very first votes in Congress was Republican Speaker Paul Ryan lobbying me to increase the debt ceiling by $200 billion. I looked at him and said you don’t understand. I’m from Utah,” Curtis said, noting he’s never voted for a debt ceiling increase. “It’s just runaway spending and a very bad place to be.”
Instead, Curtis recommended cleaning up regulations and re-opening supply channels, along with cutting back on spending.
Herrod views rising inflation as a national security issue, and said the nation needs to balance its budget and cut taxes.
“We’re no longer the world’s reserve currency. Massive cuts will be forced on us. So we’d better do it now while we have control over it,” Herrod said.
In light of the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the issue of guns also came up. Utah Republican Party Chairman Carson Jorgensen asked the candidates how to protect children while maintaining 2nd Amendment rights.
“It’s very important that we look at these issues with their many layers and not fool ourselves that there’s some quick answer,” Curtis said. “It’s not a quick gun fix, not a quick mental health fix – it’s an all-hands-on-deck issue.”
While extending condolences to those impacted by the shooting, Herrod said that children need to know they’re loved, and that statistically speaking “there’s still no safer place for them to be than at school.”
“But that does not provide comfort to the person at odds with the statistics, so we need to make sure that we reach out, that we give to those communities,” Herrod said.
The debate also touched on abortion, with the U.S. Supreme Court poised to likely overturn the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade ruling early this summer.
Herrod credited former Pres. Donald Trump for making that likelihood possible with his appointment of three justices during his four years in office.
Herrod believes the only exceptions to an abortion ban should be the life of the mother, rape or incest.
“I’ve looked forward to this day,” Herrod added. “Just think what could have been created had 60 million lives not been aborted.”
Fox News reported that statistic in May – an estimate from the National Right to Life Committee.
On this issue, there seems to be very little difference between the two candidates. Curtis called the overturn of Roe v. Wade “a good thing for our country.”
“I appreciate how difficult this issue is – and I’m a man. I know I can’t understand what women feel like, so I try to do the best I can,” Curtis said.
Curtis spoke in support of Utah’s trigger law that would take effect if the landmark 1973 ruling gets overturned.
“As i understand it, there’s exceptions – the life of the mother, rape, incest and other situations that are unfortunate,” Curtis said.
Utah lawmakers passed that trigger law – Senate Bill 174 – in 2020. If it takes effect, it will prohibit all abortions outside those few exceptions and will also penalize physicians who perform the procedure illegally.
Along with rape, incest and the life of the mother, severe brain abnormalities in the fetus would also qualify. Incidents of rape and incest would have to be reported to law enforcement before the abortion could proceed.
Performing abortions outside those exceptions would be a 2nd degree felony.
Show me the money
The candidates’ quarterly campaign finance reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission show incumbent Curtis far outpacing Herrod in financial support.
Between Jan. 1 and April 3, the Curtis campaign took in close to $1.2 million and spent $755,608.
During that same period, Herrod loaned his campaign $5,000 and no contributions were reported.
Reporting for the current quarter comes due in mid-July.
“I’ve been able to raise around $100,000, mainly from individuals in Utah and around the state,” Herrod said recently by phone. “But there won’t be any corporate or PAC money in that.”
Herrod acknowledged that he’ll likely be “outspent ten to one” in this race. But he plans to compensate with a good ground game.
“We’ve got hundreds of volunteers knocking doors and doing races the way they should be done anyway – knocking on doors and talking the issues,” Herrod said.
Curtis said he plans to continue to inform people about what he’s accomplished on the job.
“A big part of what we do here is spreading the message of what we do here. We do that through normal channels of newsletters and town hall meetings,” Curtis said. “But the campaign gives us the opportunity to go on TV & radio … It’s my opportunity to be accountable to them for my time and energy here.”
The winner of the June 28 GOP primary will advance to face Constitution candidate Daniel Cummings, Democrat Glenn Wright, Independent Aaron Heineman and Libertarian Michael Stoddard in the Nov. 8 general election.
