State Rep. Stephen Urquhart (R-St. George,UT)
Posted on 07/08/2005 6:59:53 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
The reality is that Urquhart is very seriously considering the prospect of challenging Sen. Orrin Hatch for the GOP Senate nomination. If Urquhart pulls the trigger, this would be the most serious intra-party challenge of a big-time incumbent in many years.
(Excerpt) Read more at utahpolicy.com ...
I think state Rep. Stephen Urquhart would be a great candidate.
Orrin Hatch has served with honor, but it's time for him to retire.
I agree. I'd also like to see someone better than Hatch on civil liberties.
Definitly time for Orrin to hang up his hat with the attached Propeller!!!
Orin should write songs!
Orrin Hatch is just another poster boy for "Term Limits".
State Rep. Stephen Urquhart (R-St. George,UT)
Also: Rep. Urquhart has his own blog:
http://www.steveu.com/blog
Yeah Hatch should retire, but because he isn't, a Republican should not try him in the primaries, he is hardly a RINO. I just hope this primary match doesnt hurt our chances in the general election.
I had a teacher with this name (it's a Scottish name). She pronounced it "Urk-hart."
Even if there was a contentious primary, there's no Democrat that can defeat Orrin Hatch. The only Democrat that would have even a remote chance would be Rep. Jim Matheson, who represents roughly a third of the state, and I doubt he's going to surrender a seat that is extremely likely to flip to our side if he goes.
The last time a Democrat won statewide office in Utah was 1988.
"the most serious intra-party challenge of a big-time incumbent in many years ..."
I imagine Pat Toomey, who won 49 percent of the vote against Specter the Snake in Pennsylvania last year, and who would have won 51 percent without Bush's cowardly intervention -- would be rather surprised to read this.
As would the Club for Growth, which supported Toomey.
The writer perhaps needs to be reminded that there are 49 other states in addition to Utah. And that there is no political basis for a challenge to Hatch.
Is Hatch a wuss? Sure, like about 40 other Republican senators. Does that put him in danger with the voters? Nope.
Is he part of the "Cowboy Coalition?"
Actually, the last 'Rat to win statewide office was in 1996. Jan Graham won her final term as state Attorney-General.
I'm not sure. Is that some sort of Utah legislative clique ?
The Cowboy Coalition is a pseudo-group of ultra right-wing conservatives. They come from rural counties (mostly in the southern part of the state.)
They have been instrumental in protecting encroachment by the federal government into education, property rights etc...
I'm sure members of this group are fed up with Orrin Hatch's brand of "conservatism."
It'd be nice to have a few of those in Congress... Well, maybe more than a few. Perhaps a couple hundred ? ;-)
Help Say Bye Bye To Orrin Hatch !
Dear Chris,
I wanted to wait until Labor Day passed before writing to alert you to a campaign that could use your seed assistance, especially given that Rep Toomey lost to Arlen Specter by only 0.8%.
Utah State Representative and Majority Whip Steve Urquhart announced in July that he would challenge Orrin Hatch at the Utah Republican Convention in May 2006.
Newspapers and bloggers in Utah have welcomed Urquhart's challenge as a viable alternative to the fifth term senator. As the former head of the Utah county governments association, Urquhart's challenge has been well received by a wide array of Utah political leaders. Technology industry leaders like Dallas Maverick's owner Mark Cuban have also announced that they will fund any effort to unseat Mr. Hatch.
In Utah, if a candidate gets 60% of the vote at the Convention, he goes unchallenged in a primary. If no candidate gets 60%, there is a primary. In 2000, Senator Hatch barely reached 60% though challenged by a political unknown. That does not describe Urquhart. To win in 2000, Hatch promised that he would stand against embryonic stem cell harvesting, a promise he broke in 2002. You can access Rep. Urquhart's site here http://www.steveu.com/ . This is how Mr. Urquhart describes his campaign plan.
"I need 3,000 volunteers to join the campaign by the end of this November. With this base, we can take on all the money and celebrity that are thrown at us. With 3,000 dedicated volunteers by November, the winds of change will decisively turn things our way.
We will win this election by convincing people to attend their neighborhood Republican caucus meetings the night of March 21, 2006, to vote for change. The delegates elected at those caucus meetings will attend the State Convention on May 20, 2006. There, we will get over 60% of the vote, allowing us to immediately focus our resources and attention on the November general election.
Should we fail to get over 60% at the State Convention, we will stand for the June 27, 2006, Republican primary against the candidate who received the second-most votes at the State Convention. Though a primary would involve additional time and resources, it would be a platform for us to get out our message of strength and leadership to more Utahns.
After securing the Republican nomination at convention or primary, we will win the general election in November. Then, the real campaign begins to re-establish the conservative principles on which our country was founded and to properly serve the day-to-day concerns of Utahns who need to interact with the federal government."
I invite you to consider helping Mr. Urquhart's campaign:
1) You can pass this letter to others who might do the same. .
2) You can write him and tell him you will support him and help raise more money. You can write him here: steveforsenate@gmail.com .
3) You can invite him to speak at your event.
4) You can let me know if you would like to meet him when he comes to Washington.
I hope this letter from me does not take you by surprise. Please consider helping to put a reliable and principled conservative in the Utah senate seat in 2006.
Manny Miranda
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.