Castle Country Radio was joined by Rep. John Curtis to talk about his bid for a seat in the U.S. Senate, his experience and his campaign platform.

Opening up the discussion, we asked Curtis what prompted him to switch from Congress and run for the open seat in the Senate left by the departure of Mitt Romney. “That’s a million-dollar question, and it did take me a long time to decide if this was the right thing to do.” explained Curtis,” But I think, ultimately, my ability to help, particularly rural Utah, is magnified many times over in the Senate, particularly these difficult public lands issues and energy issues. And I felt like I could do so much more for rural Utah in the Senate than the House that I made the jump.”

Speaking of his time in the House of Representatives, Curtis explained why he felt his experience in Congress would benefit him if elected to the Senate,” I think it’s incredibly valuable. I’ve learned so much. I have to be honest, when I started seven years ago, I didn’t understand public lands. I’ve passed legislation on critical public lands issues and protecting grazing, extraction and recreation. My team is experienced in public lands issues as well as energy issues. And they’re just so important for this part of our state. And I’m looking forward to just even magnifying the work that we’ve done and doing even more.”

We then dove into several issues Curtis aims to fix if elected, starting with the aforementioned public lands,” the rural part of my district is over 90% owned by the federal government. I’ll give you one quick example. The BLM published a rule that said they could indiscriminately take large swathes of land and declare them conservation areas. So, that might mean where people are currently grazing or extracting or recreating, the BLM could put them off limits. I was able to get a bill through the House that would repeal that rule. And that type of experience landing in the Senate is just invaluable.”

Another key issue of Curtis’ campaign is the foreign influence that China has on America,” I think it’s the longest, the biggest long-term threat to our peace and prosperity here in the United States is China,” Curtis stated,” I love the Chinese people, but I’m very worried their dictatorship government has bad intentions and wants to subjugate the United States to them. And they’re now an economic powerhouse that we can’t ignore. And if we don’t get that relationship right, I think that’s one of the most consequential threats to our freedom going forward.”

One emphasis shared by Curtis and the Republican Party as a whole is immigration, namely the Southern Border of the U.S. “What’s happening there is so wrong. And it’s wrong for Americans, and it’s even wrong for those that are coming into our country. They feel like they’ve been promised the American dream, and you can’t have the American dream if you come here illegally. And it’s putting a huge burden on our schools, on our welfare systems, on our law enforcement. And the biggest thing is it doesn’t need to be this way.” Curtis continued,” We saw under President Donald Trump that those numbers were cut dramatically with policies like Remain in Mexico. Those don’t cost us a single dollar. And that we’re not doing those things is not in the interest of America and Utah. And I’m looking forward to making some changes there that are right for that situation.”

Curtis also spoke on energy production, another issue that matters to rural voters. “ I’ve leaned into this, and I feel like I’m the only voice sometimes saying that fossil fuels are not the problem. They’re part of the solution. And I’ve been able to map out a course that shows our energy sector how it can be viable into the future for decades and decades and decades. And there are people out there that want to demonize fossil fuels and not just fossil fuels, but the people who produce them. And the reality of it is, the sector is part of the solution to our energy future. And we need them, and we need them to be wildly successful.”

The last campaign emphasis we discussed with Curtis was Cryptocurrency, something which isn’t typically seen as a key issue in a major party politician. “Innovation is exciting to me. And if we put our heads in the sand and say we have to do things the same way we always have, we’re going to miss opportunities. And once again, the United States and Utah have a chance to be world leaders on this, or we can sit on our hands and watch somebody else lead out on this. I want it to come from the United States and I want it to come from Utah.”

Switching focuses from his platform to his campaign journey, we asked Curtis what surprised him the most during his journeys across the state. “I think what surprised me most was I’ve gotten very familiar with the issues in the third congressional district, eastern Utah, but realizing the issues in the other parts of the state are equally important, but quite different from some of the issues in eastern Utah. And I like to kind of teach counties that two counties right next to each other are not the same, that there’s a difference between different countries.” The candidate continued,” It’s a huge mistake if you try to say,’ I know rural because I know one rural county.’ Well, you don’t, you have to know 29 counties and the personalities of 29 counties and their needs, they’re all unique and very different.”

In closing, Curtis explained why the residents of Utah should vote for him as their next senator. “People who know me know that I visited eastern Utah more than anybody, any of my predecessors, and perhaps even more of all of them combined. I love that part of the state. And if they are good enough to reelect me as their senator, I’ll keep coming back and I’ll be there in person. We’ll understand their issues, and we’ll move the needle forward on issues that are important to them.”

To learn more about Curtis and his campaign you can visit johncurtis.org.

*To view our Interview with Curtis’ opponent Caroline Gleich, click here.