Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch may avoid Tea Party-forced retirement

Utah’s nominating convention on Saturday favors Hatch: Back in 2010, a fellow Republican Senator, Bob Bennett, lost his seat in a similar nominating convention, facing tough competition from Tea Partiers, eventually losing his seat to current Sen. Mike Lee. Hatch, who spoke very unfavorably of his competition, is looking fairly strong in polls leading in to the convention, which picks the candidates which eventually will take the Republican nomination. If Hatch can get 60 percent, he can avoid a primary outright. And recent polls show that he’s at 59 percent, with a 4.43-percent margin of error and 15 percent undecided. Utah is strongly Republican, so winning at this convention is tantamount to winning the race. If the 78-year-old Hatch wins, he says it’ll be his last term — he’s currently finishing out his sixth term. (photo by Gage Skidmore) source

Follow ShortFormBlog: Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook