Posted on 01/02/2018 11:22:11 AM PST by jazusamo
Video at link.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the longest-serving GOP senator in U.S. history, announced Tuesday that he'll retire at the end of his term.
Hatch made the announcement in a video posted on Twitter. The announcement is a blow to President Trump, who has publicly encouraged him to run for reelection.
The 83-year-old senator appeared to be signaling in recent weeks that he’d run for an eighth term in 2018, even though he previously said he’d retire when his term is up in January 2019.
The powerful Senate Finance Committee chairman played a significant role in helping Republicans pass a major tax overhaul and was also integral in the White House’s decision to shrink two national monuments in Utah. And Trump has been showering praise on Hatch, who he called a “true fighter” during a Salt Lake City speech in early December. Still, Hatch was under pressure to retire and his decision comes after The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah’s largest newspaper, published a scathing Christmas Day editorial calling on him to retire. The editorial board wrote that he has an “utter lack of integrity” that comes from “his unquenchable thirst for power.”
The spotlight now shifts to Mitt Romney, who has been reportedly eyeing a Senate bid only if Hatch retired. The 2012 GOP presidential nominee is expected to be able to clear the field since he remains highly popular in Utah. Romney, a Mormon, has strong ties to the state and helped lead the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
Trump and some of his allies, including former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon, were reportedly looking to block the former Massachusetts governor from running by encouraging Hatch to stay in the seat.
Romney clashed with Trump during the 2016 election, calling the then-GOP presidential candidate a “phony” and a “fraud.” And more recently, Romney condemned failed Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore after Trump endorsed him amid sexual misconduct allegations.
It’s unclear when Romney will decide whether or not he jumps back into the political arena, but he has until March 15 to file for Hatch’s seat.
“I haven’t spoken directly to the Governor about his intentions, but I do think he maintains a desire to serve the public,” Ryan Williams, a former aide to Romney’s presidential campaign, told The Hill last week. “I think if an opportunity arose he would seriously consider it.”
So Utah gets Mittens the a-hole?
More like the entire country gets the Mittens @hole.
Thank you, 17th Amendment :(
I hope a conservative runs in the primary so the choice in the general election is not either vote for Mittens or for Senate Majority Leader Schumer.
Maybe some scandalous photos will show up revealing Mitt sipping a coffee.
LOL....while in his magic undies, sitting by a camp-side fire.
How many prominent conservatives do you know of, from Utah?
Had high hopes for Love and Lee, but they have failed the conservative movement, badly, with their NeverTrumper/ProLyinRyan antics and stances.
I dislike Hatch but I despise Romney.
As of noon on January 3, 2019, say hello to Senator Romney.
As much as I want the 17th Amendment repealed, along with the 16th, I'm sure the Utah State Legislature would make him a Senator if it had the power to do so.
Does Utah have primaries? I thought I heard they have party conventions in Utah to pick candidates for the general election.
If I’m misinformed someone please correct me. Because in such a case party insiders instead of voters will be de who the GOP nominee is.
Like Jews, though, through their professed faith, ought to be conservatives but sadly are not!
Agnostic Jews invented “Reform Judaism,” wherein they are able to embrace such things as “abortion as a human right,” but completely ignore other such “human rights” as self defense in favor of gun control and pornography as “artistic expression,” homosexuals preying on young boys as “the human right to love whomever you please,” and all other disgusting behavior as “rights.”
Mormons, on the other hand, aren’t always as reliable on “family friendly” stances as on abortion and gay marriage. They became thoroughly in favor of Mitt, knowing he had “favored a woman’s right to choose” and of supportive “gay rights.” Dittos on Jon Huntsman, so don’t ever think you know where Mormons draw the line until you know where the LDS Church stands on any given day!
Going to laugh my keister off when Romney gets the nomination, its too late to substitute him as a candidate and suddenly Gloria Allred shows up.
The 17th Amendment would be the one thing to STOP an anointment of this abomination.
Nah......they want him on their side. He hates Trump. Will be the spoiler as McCain has been.
Does Romney live in UTAH???
I'd rather see his wife Ann in the Senate.
Mitt? no, nada, never, get a job selling used Kia's Mitt, we don't want what your selling.
My God, what is it about Politician's, Media, and Hollywood types way beyond their expiration date of "that" career, who will not just go away....
Where the heck is a Trumpian in Utah, that can take this guy on?
Good question, where does Mitt live?
Hello, Senator Mitt Romney.
Hatch was good years ago, but it is time to retire.
He will be the next Senator.
Unless Jason Chaffetz, Bruce Hough, etc. run it is Romney’s nomination for the taking.
Mitt Romney is a well-accomplished man. I admire that.
He lives in Massachusetts, Utah, California, New Hampshire, Michigan.
He is a wealthy man.
Now, Romney grew up in Michigan, governor of Massachusetts and now wants to be the Senator of Utah? Is the Senate seat only for Morons - I meant Mormons? :-)
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