For 4th-term Rep. John Curtis, running for Senate is a whole new ballgame

John Curtis is no stranger to political campaigns. The Republican congressman was elected mayor of Provo twice and has won four congressional campaigns, beginning with his special election win in 2017 to replace outgoing Rep. Jason Chaffetz.

But this year’s race for Senate — now narrowed down among Republicans to four contenders — is a different story altogether. Curtis’ previous campaigns for Congress covered one of Utah’s four congressional districts, leading to the assumption that to run for Senate would require a similar effort, multiplied by four.

The reality wasn’t so simple.

“I think we were pretty naive about what was going to work and what wasn’t going to work with the campaign,” Corey Norman, Curtis’ chief of staff, told KSL.com. “The reality is, just the amount of attention from citizens, as you can imagine. … So it just plays a completely different dynamic.”