Utah Republicans: Mitt Romney is serious about 2018

Republican insiders in Utah said Monday that Mitt Romney’s interest in running for Senate in 2018 is real — the question is whether the party’s 2012 presidential nominee will pull the trigger.

The first step in a Romney candidacy would be the retirement of Sen. Orrin Hatch, 83. Fresh polling shows the veteran Republican’s popularity in Utah on the wane after more than 40 years on Capitol Hill. In a statewide poll conducted by a Utah pollster, Hatch was actually losing a hypothetical matchup to potential Democratic nominee Jenny Wilson despite the state’s overwhelming Republican tilt.