UT-Sen: Longtime Utah GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch has repeatedly said that he's leaning towards seeking re-election but hasn't committed to it yet, and last week, he said that he might step aside if the right replacement candidate came along. When asked who that could be, Hatch replied, “Mitt Romney would be perfect.” A few months ago, Romney didn’t rule out a Senate bid in Utah, and The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins reports that, even before Hatch’s comment, Romney has been seriously talking about going for it in private. However, he says that Romney is only interested if the incumbent retires, and that there’s no guarantee that Romney would run anyway.
While Hatch later dismissed his statement as just “musing aloud on the subject,” Coppins writes that Utah political figures really believe it was very much deliberate. If Hatch retired and Romney ran in his place, the former Massachusetts governor likely would have little trouble winning. Utah was Romney’s best state in 2012, and the first Mormon major-parry presidential nominee is a popular figure with voters. Coppins says that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has encouraged him to run for an open seat, and that Beehive State GOP figures would be onboard. Indeed, at least one potential Senate candidate, World Trade Center Utah leader Derek Miller, says he wouldn’t run against Romney.
If Hatch does seek an eighth term, he wouldn’t need to worry about Romney, but his renomination would not be guaranteed at all. Ex-Gov. Jon Huntsman has not ruled out challenging Hatch. A month ago, Donald Trump reportedly chose Huntsman to be ambassador to Russia, but there still has not been any public announcement, and it certainly wouldn’t be out of character for Trump to pick someone else at the last moment.
Coppins also writes that Hatch’s allies are worried that someone could challenge Hatch from the right and win, though it’s not clear who, or that the 83-year-old senator will win but won’t be able to properly do his job for another six years. One unnamed top Utah Republican tells Coppins that while they’d back Hatch if he did run, “we really hope he doesn’t.” In dark red Utah, the GOP nominee should have little trouble winning the general no matter who it is.