For the first time in two generations, Utah will get a fresh start with the Senate seat currently held by Orrin Hatch. While both of the major party candidates running for the seat — Democratic candidate Jenny Wilson and Republican candidate Mitt Romney — have impressive credentials, the Daily Herald endorses Romney for U.S. Senate.

In the editorial board’s interviews with Romney and Wilson, some commonalities emerged between the two candidates. Both noted their pioneer roots to Utah (interestingly, Wilson’s family traces back to Orson Pratt while Romney’s goes back to Orson’s brother, Parley). Both also come from families engaged in politics and have extensive political careers themselves. Wilson is currently serving on the Salt Lake County Council, while Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, famously ran for president in 2012.

In their separate campaigns, each candidate has made a strong effort to speak with Utahns from across the state, including those from economically uncertain rural areas whose problems are dramatically different from those seen along the booming Wasatch Front.

While Wilson has the most current experience, we feel Romney’s prior experience as governor and leading the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics gives him a strong edge.

At the same time, we were impressed with Wilson and feel she is one of the strongest candidates put forth by the Democrats in recent memory and is part of a wave of female candidates emerging on the local political scene. She is well-versed on the issues, puts forth thoughtful positions and has made a dedicated effort to communicate with Utahns.

Utah benefits when there are strong candidates from all parties. At the very least, it forces incumbents or those heavily favored to win to more actively campaign and spread their message to voters.

While Wilson entered the race expecting to face Hatch, we appreciate her gumption to press ahead when Hatch stepped back and the heavily favored Romney threw his hat into the ring.

In our interview, Romney showed a desire to focus on work instead of being a daily soundbite on a cable news network. That’s a good inclination, especially because he sometimes creates a faux pas when he speaks extemporaneously. It happened several times during his presidential campaign (e.g., “binders full of women” and the “47 percent”) and at least a couple of times during the current campaign (e.g. his immigration comments in Provo and his debate response that Trump can’t be impeached because he’s a “sitting president”).

Romney’s name-recognition and political connections may also be a dual-edged sword. It may help him hit the ground running when he goes to Washington, but it may also increase the desire to focus on issues that don’t directly pertain to Utahns.

As this election cycle has unfolded, some Republican Utahns have criticized Romney for perceived shortcomings, such as either not being conservative or Republican enough (which are arguably two separate things) or for not full-throatedly supporting President Trump. We believe whomever is elected to the Senate should represent as many Utahns as possible and we feel Romney will do that.

We were ultimately heartened by his remarks at the end of the interview. Romney said he wouldn’t compromise on principles, but would be open to shaping policy based on data and acknowledged that sometimes changes would arise based on real-world results.

Romney’s positions on tax reform, regulatory change and role of government appear to be largely in sync with many Utahans. The state would benefit from him in Congress and Romney has earned our endorsement.