Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch will have a fight on his hands now that the state Republican Party has forced the 78-year-old incumbent into a June primary with 37-year-old former State Sen. Dan Liienquist.
According to the Associated Press, Hatch fell fewer than 50 votes from among 4,000 votes of getting the party nomination outright at the party’s convention. Hatch needed to receive 60 percent of the votes within two rounds of balloting to secure the nomination.
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It marks the second time in two years that the Utah GOP has denied renomination to the incumbent.
Hatch has faced strong opposition from FreedomWorks and other Tea Party groups who view the 35-year incumbent as not conservative enough.
“FreedomWorks activists have been working for months and months on end to elect delegates that represent their limited government constitutional principles,” Kristen Ribali, director of New Media at FreedomWorks told Red Alert Politics. “It’s going to go to a full primary and we believe that will give people time to learn about his record and find a better candidate.”
The winner of the primary will likely win in November because of the GOP’s dominance in the state.
