Mitt Romney Wins U.S. Senate Race In Utah

Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts who ran for president twice and gained the Republican nomination in 2012, has been elected to represent Utah in the U.S. Senate, according to projections from MSNBC and CNN. Romney, 71, had a comfortable lead in the polls against his Democratic opponent, Jenny Wilson.

Real Clear Politics ranks the race as "safe GOP" and The Cook Political Report says the seat is "solid" Republican. Romney announced his intention to run for the seat in February after Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch said he would retire.

Romney's popularity in Utah is not in question and a poll from early October conducted by The Salt Lake Tribune and the Hinckley Institute found that the former Massachusetts governor was one of the top three reasons voters were motivated to go to the polls. The poll found that among voters who said they were excited by a candidate, 54 percent said that candidate was Romney.

While taking a softer tone against President Donald Trump than he did before the 2016 presidential election, Romney has said he will support the president's policies when they are in the best interest of Utah and the country. In a piece for The Salt Lake Tribune, he also said he will continue to speak out if the president says something that is "divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions." Last week, Romney published an essay defending the free press after Trump's repeated attacks on the media.

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Prior to the 2016 election, Romney gave a speech in March where he heavily criticized Trump, saying he didn't have the temperament to be president. The speech drew a series of angry responses from then-candidate Trump on Twitter, where he repeatedly called Romney a failed presidential candidate. When Romney won the Republican primary in June, Trump congratulated him and said he looked forward to working together.

Romney's opponent, Wilson, 53, currently serves on the Salt Lake City Council. On her campaign website, Wilson says she supports Proposition 2, which would make medical marijuana legal in the state. The same poll that showed high voter enthusiasm for Romney also found that the medical marijuana proposition was another motivating factor for voters. Romney does not support the proposition and told The Salt Lake Tribune he prefers a legislative solution. On the issue of Medicaid, Wilson said she supports Proposition 3, which would enable full Medicaid expansion in Utah. In the same interivew with the Tribune, Romney said he thinks Medicaid expansion should be left to elected representatives.

Photo: Mitt Romney, Republican U.S. Senator-elect from Utah along with his wife Ann and other family members on stage, speak to an election night party after his victory Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, in Orem, Utah. Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Associated Press