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Hatch announces retirement from Senate
The Hill ^ | January 2, 2018 | Lisa Hagan

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.”


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Utah
KEYWORDS: 1; 115th; hatch; orrinhatch; orrinhatchretiring; romney2018; romneyagenda; romneycare; romneymarriage; senromneycare; ussenate
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1 posted on 01/02/2018 11:22:11 AM PST by jazusamo
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To: jazusamo

Harry Reid has given the orders at LDS that Romney has the seat.


2 posted on 01/02/2018 11:23:10 AM PST by Zathras
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To: jazusamo

So, Mittens to Utah for that seat? Will Mia Love run for it?


3 posted on 01/02/2018 11:23:10 AM PST by NohSpinZone (First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers)
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To: jazusamo

I doubt Romney runs.

But who knows. If he runs, he wins.

Sad but true.


4 posted on 01/02/2018 11:23:15 AM PST by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: jazusamo

About time...


5 posted on 01/02/2018 11:23:20 AM PST by kosciusko51
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To: jazusamo

mittens put the hit on


6 posted on 01/02/2018 11:23:26 AM PST by dontreadthis (I finally came up with this taglineI)
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To: jazusamo
Opens the seat up for dem mittens to step up. 🐂💩🤕
7 posted on 01/02/2018 11:24:16 AM PST by rktman (Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?!)
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To: NohSpinZone

Hopefully Mittens won’t run.


8 posted on 01/02/2018 11:24:46 AM PST by jazusamo (Have YOU Donated to Keep Free Republic Up and Running?)
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To: jazusamo

So Utah gets Mittens the a-hole?


9 posted on 01/02/2018 11:24:47 AM PST by Chauncey Gardiner
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To: kosciusko51

I’d rather see Hatch in that seat than Mittens.


10 posted on 01/02/2018 11:24:50 AM PST by ScottinVA ( Liberals, go find another country.)
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To: jazusamo

Orrin’s Mormon Church has probably demanded this decision.
Expect to hear so opening lines by Romney.
“I am saddened, even a little shocked, that this great public servant has chosen to retire!”


11 posted on 01/02/2018 11:25:14 AM PST by lee martell
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To: Zathras

The DNC has lost McCain as their security leak and they need Romney and his staff to continue feeding them RNC intelligence.
Look for Steve Schmitt and Nicole Wallace to join Romney’s staff.

RNC intelligence...LOL


12 posted on 01/02/2018 11:25:41 AM PST by Zathras
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To: ScottinVA

Ditto


13 posted on 01/02/2018 11:25:54 AM PST by Williams (Stop tolerating the intolerant.)
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To: ifinnegan

I’m sure Mitt will run. He’s the big political hero in Utah and the Senate makes a good launch pad if he wants one last run at president.


14 posted on 01/02/2018 11:25:58 AM PST by Colonel Kangaroo
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To: jazusamo

Romney, the King of the Cuckolds, will now likely be in the Senate.

He needs to be defeated, the man has been veryru disrespectful to our wonderful President and is a true Marxist.

If he wins the primary I would vote Dummycrats in the general. The cuckolds are the greatest threat to the Republic


15 posted on 01/02/2018 11:26:19 AM PST by WashingtonFire (President Trump - it's like having your dad as President !)
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To: jazusamo

Hello Senator Romney.


16 posted on 01/02/2018 11:26:21 AM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: dontreadthis

Yup, bad news for Trump to have Mittens in the Senate, he will be a spoiler like McCain and have to be sucked up to for every vote.


17 posted on 01/02/2018 11:26:30 AM PST by GnuThere
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To: jazusamo

Maybe some scandalous photos will show up revealing Mitt sipping a coffee.


18 posted on 01/02/2018 11:27:00 AM PST by Ted Grant
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To: jazusamo

Be quite a step down for Mitt. I can’t see him doing that. Run for Go error yes, but one of one hundred? Can’t see it.


19 posted on 01/02/2018 11:27:55 AM PST by McGavin999 ("The press is impotent when it abandons itself to falsehood."Thomas Jefferson)
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MAGA!

Support Free Republic, Folks!

Please bump the Freepathon or click above to donate or become a monthly donor!

20 posted on 01/02/2018 11:28:09 AM PST by jazusamo (Have YOU Donated to Keep Free Republic Up and Running?)
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