SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 9, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch on Thursday told CNN he is planning to run for re-election next year.
The Utah Republican, the longest serving GOP senator in U.S. history, told CNN that after encouragement from President Donald Trump, he is setting aside his plans to retire.
“I’m planning on (running) right now,” Hatch told CNN. “That’s what my current plans are.”
Hatch, who turns 83 on March 22, has served as senator since 1977, a full four decades. He told CNN he could still change his mind about running.
“Well let’s put it this way: it’s just too early to make a decision,” Hatch said. “My intention is to continue to serve Utah.”
Hatch is third in the line of succession to the president as the Senate’s president pro tempore. Hatch’s comments come after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Trump both asked him to run again.
“His pitch is he needs me,” Hatch said of Trump.
Hatch’s decision also follows news that former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. will be nominated as ambassador to Russia. Huntsman had said he might consider running for Hatch’s Senate seat.
But CNN reported that Hatch spent an hour Wednesday with Huntsman, a “longtime friend,” and believed the former governor did not intend to challenge him.
“I don’t think he would have ever run against me,” Hatch said. “He didn’t really want to run for Senate.”
Asked by CNN if he was preparing for a tough 2018 re-election battle, Hatch responded:
“Anyone who wants to take me on knows it’s going to be a real ordeal.”
