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MIDVALE — Conservative activist Charlie Kirk became the latest national political figure to back Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs in his campaign for U.S. Senate at a grievance-filled campaign event Tuesday evening.
Several hundred people — many of them Republican delegates — filled the auditorium at Hillcrest High School in Midvale as Kirk railed against "warmongers" in Washington who approved further Ukraine aid over the weekend in what he described as an "existential crisis."
"Many of us want to believe we have a representative form of government, and in some ways we do. ... What happened this last week is not even close to a representative form of government," Kirk said.
He accused lawmakers in Washington of "repeatedly (doing) unpopular things," adding: "That's how you get revolutions."
Staggs and Kirk were critical not just of Democrats in Congress and the White House, but repeatedly attacked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson, both Republicans.
"I'm not a foot soldier for McConnell," Staggs said, calling for the need to wrest control of the Senate Republican caucus from "establishment" politicians.
Kirk addressed a series of mailers and attack ads aimed at Staggs — calling him "fake MAGA" and a "woke activist" — in recent days, saying it shows that same "establishment" is afraid of Staggs ascending to the Senate.
"(Staggs) is someone that will stand up in Washington, D.C.," he said.
It's the latest show of support from a prominent Republican figure for Staggs, who has cast himself as an "America First" conservative who aspires to emulate Utah Sen. Mike Lee in the upper chamber of Congress.
Kirk, the founder and executive director of Turning Point USA — a national organization for young conservatives — rose to prominence after the organization backed Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and later served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr. He praised Staggs for throwing his hat into the ring to run against Sen. Mitt Romney before the senator announced he would step down at the end of the term.
Staggs told KSL.com the mailers targeting his campaign show that his opponents are "very, very worried." Hometown Freedom Action Network, a conservative political action committee, has spent nearly $30,000 opposing Staggs, according to OpenSecrets, and another $10,000 opposing Rep. John Curtis, who is also running for the seat.
The committee has spent $2,353 on materials in favor of Carolyn Phippen's Senate campaign — although federal election law prohibits coordination between PACs and candidates.
Staggs derided the mailers as "categorically false" and an attempt to dupe delegates.
"I think that these attack ads are not going to have the result that the establishment players, the D.C. dark money, you know, swamp, that's throwing them our way — it's not going to have the impact that they hoped for," he said.
Kirk told attendees that Washington elites "hate" and look down on them, and asked the attendees to turn their anger around and vote for Staggs.
"You should take their repeated insults toward you as motivation. Remember how much they hate you, and do something about it and send somebody they hate in return," he said.
When it comes to the grievance felt by many in the crowd, Staggs said Kirk "hit the nail on the head."
"So much of what happens in Washington, D.C., is by people who are actively voting against the will of the American people, and I know it because I've done probably 80-plus town halls across the state," he said. "Republicans in particular, they don't want what's going on back there. They don't want the spending; they don't want the funding of endless war. ... But these things just continue to happen."
Throughout the campaign, Staggs has made appearances on conservative media outlets such as Fox News and Newsmax, and has notched a series of endorsements from prominent supporters of former President Donald Trump. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, a former GOP presidential candidate, endorsed the mayor last week, and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, have traveled to the Beehive State to stump for him.
Rather than collect signatures to qualify for the Republican primary election, Staggs has left his fate in the hands of GOP delegates, who will convene Saturday in Salt Lake City to select their preferred nominees. Three candidates have already qualified for the June 25 primary — Rep. John Curtis, former Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson and businessman Jason Walton — and two additional convention-only candidates could advance on Saturday if they earn at least 40% of the delegate vote.
Of the other Republicans who declared their intent to gather signatures, Brent Hatch, the son of late Sen. Orrin Hatch, is the only one who has signatures certified by the lieutenant governor's office — but Hatch is still nearly 16,000 shy of the threshold to qualify. Carolyn Phippen, a former U.S. Senate staffer, has also opted to take the convention-only route.
