Utah GOP Senate hopeful revs his classic car past Biden’s ‘67 Corvette, ‘cowardly RINOs’ in new TV ad
Utah GOP Senate candidate Brad Wilson is going “full throttle” against President Biden — and moderate Republicans in Congress who voted through some of the commander-in-chief’s agenda, a new TV ad shows.
Wilson, the former Republican speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, on Monday rolled out the TV spot, which will run statewide — and shows him shifting gears in a red 1966 Chevy Chevelle SS to barrel past Biden’s beloved ‘67 Corvette model in the Utah desert.
“He’ll take on Joe Biden’s agenda, full throttle, and leave the cowardly RINOs who appease him in the dust,” a narrator says, referring to the “Republicans In Name Only” label.
“He’ll secure our borders, stand for life, defend the Second Amendment, and nothing’s gonna stand in his way,” the narrator adds of Wilson, who also is touted as a “car guy,” “homebuilder” and “not a career politician.”
Wilson’s campaign announced the new ad as part of a six-figure media buy that will air on broadcast TV, cable TV and digital streaming platforms statewide.
Wilson, 55, is one of 11 candidates who have filed to run for US Senate in Utah after Republican Sen. Mitt Romney announced in September he would not seek re-election.
“I spent my last 25 years in public service of one kind or another,” Romney said in a video post at the time. “At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-80s. Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders.”
Wilson launched his campaign for Senate shortly after, resigned from the Utah House and received a big endorsement from GOP Gov. Spencer Cox.
“As you can see in Washington, DC, right now, when it comes to finding a consensus and leading a large group of independently elected people who have very strong ideas and are passionate, I’ve never seen anybody do it as well as Brad Wilson,” Cox told reporters in October. “I think that’s the kind of leadership we need in DC.”
But recent public polls suggest Wilson is lagging behind GOP Rep. John Curtis, who currently represents Utah’s 3rd Congressional District in Congress, and Brent Orrin Hatch, the son of the late Sen. Orrin Hatch. Brent filed to run for the Senate earlier this year.
Neither Romney nor senior Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee has announced an endorsement of any candidate in the race, which is not rated as a party-vulnerable match-up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Romney helped approve some of the Biden administration’s signature legislative achievements such as the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law, one of many decisions that led to criticisms from the right flank of his party.
He was also one of a handful of Republican senators who voted to convict former President Donald Trump for allegedly inciting an insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the only one to vote to convict of Trump of abuse of power for allegedly pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden ahead of the 2020 election.
