SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs announced on Tuesday he will be running for U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney’s seat in the U.S. Senate during the 2024 election.

In his campaign announcement made on social media, Staggs claimed Washington is broken and “enough is enough.”

“We have more IRS agents than border agents, and while we are paying $4 a gallon for gas, they’re sending our money unchecked to Ukraine,” said Staggs in a video posted to social media. “Now, we are almost $32 trillion in debt.”

Staggs’ video challenged Mitt Romney’s time in office. Staggs said Romney vowed to fight against illegal immigration, put the U.S. on a path toward a balanced budget, push back on federal overreach, and appoint Supreme Court judges that follow the Constitution. Staggs claimed to only see Romney fight for “the establishment, wokeness, open borders, impeaching President Trump, and putting [the U.S.] even deeper into debt.”

Sen. Mitt Romney has not yet announced plans to run for re-election during the campaign cycle, however, the Associated Press reported he filed preliminary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission in April.

According to Stagg’s Senate campaign website, he will be a “fighter in DC,” platforming on smaller government, safer families, and a stronger economy.

Staggs said if elected as senator he would fight to lower taxes and would “bring a chainsaw” to cut away at government spending and regulations. Staggs is also poised to fight against the “cancer of wokeness” which he says has infiltrated schools and everyday life, including the U.S. military. Other platforms for Staggs’ campaign include energy independence, immigration reform, and prioritizing using the military to defend America only.

Staggs was elected as Riverton mayor in 2017 and won a second term in office in 2022. In 2020, he ran against Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson but fell short and conceded to Wilson.

During his time in office as Riverton mayor, Staggs fought against a Salt Lake County order to limit public gatherings to no more than 10 people during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Staggs also launched a spend-local campaign in Riverton to incentivize spending at local businesses in an effort to boost the local economy.

Staggs has also launched campaigns to urge Riverton residents to conserve water during drought conditions as well as battled Utah’s “opidemic.”

Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson is also weighing a bid for Romney’s seat, having launched an exploratory committee to “test the waters” of an official campaign.