Orem • Mitt Romney is on the way to claiming the Republican nomination in Utah’s U.S. Senate race, according to unofficial results, earning 77 percent of early vote tallies in Salt Lake County.
If the lead holds after the final vote tally, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee will face Democratic candidate Jenny Wilson in November for the seat of outgoing Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
Romney finished behind Kennedy at the Utah Republican Convention in April in a 49 percent to 51 percent vote of state GOP delegates. But polling ahead of Tuesday’s primary showed the former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate with a commanding, if not insurmountable, lead.