Longtime Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, trails former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman in a hypothetical Senate primary matchup by a significant margin, and could face opposition from voters if he seeks an eighth term in office, according to a new poll released Thursday.
The poll, conducted by the Salt Lake Tribune and the Hinckley Institute for Politics, shows that Huntsman, who returned to Utah after serving as ambassador to China under former President Obama, leads with 62 percent support to Hatch’s 21 percent.
Additionally, 78 percent of Utahns believe that Hatch, the longest-serving Senate Republican, should not run for “re-election to an eighth term.” Fifty-eight percent believe that Hatch should “definitely not” run again, and only 20 percent believe that he should run for re-election.
The Senate pro tempore has not said yet whether he will run for an eighth term. Originally, the longtime Utah Republican announced during his 2012 re-election bid that his seventh term, which he won with 65 percent support, would be his last. However, Hatch has admitted that Trump’s victory in November has given him pause about that decision and is looking at potentially running once again.
“While the media may be interested in kicking off the next election just as soon the last one is barely over, Senator Hatch is seizing the opportunity of having a Republican administration in office to deliver for the people of Utah,” said Matt Sandgren, Hatch’s chief of staff, in a statement. “His focus is on addressing real issues like repealing and replacing Obamacare and undoing the damage of the Bears Ears National Monument, not on playing political games with a poll.”
As for Huntsman, he revealed in November that he would likely take a look at a run for Senate in 2018. However, his plan is contingent on Hatch’s plans.
“We’re going to take a good look at maybe a future Senate run in the state of Utah,” Huntsman told Bloomberg in an interview. He said his decision “in part would be based on what Senator Hatch chooses to do,” while noting that Hatch has spent nearly half of his life in the upper chamber.
“He’s been a productive senator for nearly half a century,” Huntsman told the podcast on Monday. “I’m somebody personally who believes in term limits. I always have. You get in, do your job, you get out.”
In a statement, Huntsman told the Tribune that despite the poll numbers, all Utahns should be “grateful” for Hatch’s service to the state.
Since returning to Utah after his ambassadorship, Huntsman launched a failed bid for the presidency in 2012 and is currently co-chairs of “No Labels,” a political advocacy group pushing for politicians to “reach across the aisle to get things done.”
The Salt Lake Tribune is owned and operated by Paul Huntsman, the brother of the former governor.
