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Hatch announced he planned to retire months ago, and then toward the end of the year began attempting to walk back on that announcement. He must have gotten a lot of pressure from his state party and their big supporters; his recent suck-ups to Trump sure didn't sit well with most Utahans. They don't like Trump very much in Utah and never have.
Cutting down on the national monuments that lie mostly in Utah was really an unpopular move there. Hatch's support for that may have been the final blow. The Utah delegation worked very long and hard to get those monuments established, and Hatch had led the way when it first began. When he abjectly bowed to Zinke, he infuriated a lot of folks, and the state is preparing to challenge the shrinkage.
A lot of Republicans already thought he had been in office way too long when he last ran for re-election. I'm sure Hatch got a pretty hard back-room beating during the recess. They play rough politics in Utah.
You can take this prediction to the bank: Mitt Romney will become the next Senator from Utah.
Romney hasn't announced yet, but he moved there over a year ago, and is now a full-time resident. That made him fully qualified for a run.
Mitt has never had anything but kind words for Hatch, but that's just being Mormon nice. Romney wants that Senate seat, and the folks in Utah want him to have it. There was no way Trump could ever match that kind of arm-twisting on Hatch.
Last edited by banjomike; 01-02-2018 at 04:00 PM..
Hatch announced he planned to retire months ago, and then toward the end of the year began attempting to walk back on that announcement. He must have gotten a lot of pressure from his state party and their big supporters; his recent suck-ups to Trump sure didn't sit well with most Utahans. They don't like Trump very much in Utah and never have.
Cutting down on the national monuments that lie mostly in Utah was really an unpopular move there. Hatch's support for that may have been the final blow. The Utah delegation worked very long and hard to get those monuments established, and Hatch had led the way when it first began. When he abjectly bowed to Zinke, he infuriated a lot of folks, and the state is preparing to challenge the shrinkage.
A lot of Republicans already thought he had been in office way too long when he last ran for re-election. I'm sure Hatch got a pretty hard back-room beating during the recess. They play rough politics in Utah.
Exactly and great post. Thank you !
Had been reading local Utah media for some time saying pretty much what you've stated; the people of Utah were itching to give Hatch the push if he didn't retire. GOP party there feared if Hatch did run for reelection a democrat just *might* take the seat.
What I don't understand is why trump wants him to stay? I thought all the long-time folks in DC were part of the swamp that trump professes to be draining. He should be celebrating hatch retiring, like he is with corker, et al.
He was our governor in MA and did a great job. Got rid of some of the corruption (no one can ever get rid of all of it) and I think he made us the first state to have universal health care, RomneyCare.
I like him because he's more of a middle of the road type of person, fair minded, decent. Enough of these extremists on either side.
Had been reading local Utah media for some time saying pretty much what you've stated; the people of Utah were itching to give Hatch the push if he didn't retire. GOP party there feared if Hatch did run for reelection a democrat just *might* take the seat.
Yup. The Democrat who is already running for the Senate seat, Jenny Wilson, a current Salt Lake City Council member, is making the election a very hard race for the Republicans. She had more popularity than Hatch from the moment she made the announcement.
I expect it will be a different story if Mitt gets in the race. He's Utah's favorite son by a country mile. I think he's as close to un-beatable in this election as it ever gets in politics.
I'm positive Romney will run; he no longer wants the Presidency- at his age, he most likely wants one of his sons to own that job- but he deeply wants to end his political days as a winner, and the Senate would certainly do that for him.
There's nothing more the citizens of Utah would rather do than put him there. A lot of Utahans still feel they owe Mitt a debt of gratitude for saving their capital city and state from the imminent collapse of the Winter Olympics 20 years ago. Romney saved them from complete humiliation in the nick of time.
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