Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) is calling on his party to reexamine its direction after Democrats won control of both the House and Senate in last week’s midterm elections.
In a post on X, Curtis argued that voters had hoped for economic relief after the Biden administration but instead got more turmoil. “After the Biden era, Americans wanted an economy that worked for them,” Curtis wrote. “Instead, they received a hastily executed war, headline after headline of scandals, a ballooning $40 trillion debt, and unpredictable tariffs.”
“It’s time for Republicans to return to the principled conservative values that once defined us—and that we’ve steadily abandoned over the last decade,” he added.
In a longer Substack post, Curtis traced those values back to his upbringing in Utah, where he said “pioneer values” guided daily life.
“Hard work, thrift, self-reliance, faith, family, integrity, and responsibility to our neighbors,” Curtis wrote. “Those values shaped my life and, eventually, my politics. For much of my life, I saw those same principles reflected in the Republican Party. Leaders like Ronald Reagan championed limited government, free trade, resolute diplomacy and global leadership, and fiscal responsibility.”
A Party Drifting, Curtis Says
Curtis said that over the past decade, the GOP has moved away from those founding principles. “Many shrewd political minds found it worth abandoning these principles in order to win elections—they were largely right,” he wrote.
Still, Curtis said he welcomes the party’s newer populist wing. “The populist movement brought millions of Americans into our party, many of whom felt forgotten by Washington. I welcome them. They belong in our big-tent party, and we owe them more than political promises,” he wrote. “But winning election was never the ultimate objective. We wanted to win so we could govern according to principles that make people’s lives better.”
Curtis’s comments come as Republicans nationally face questions about the party’s direction following the loss of majorities in both chambers of Congress.
