Door open for Romney Senate run after Hatch retires

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah says he will not seek re-election after serving more than 40 years in the Senate, opening the door for former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to run for his seat.

Hatch, 83, said Tuesday he’s always been a fighter, “but every good fighter knows when to hang up the gloves.”

Hatch is the longest-serving Republican in the Senate. He chairs the powerful Senate Finance Committee and was a major force in getting a tax overhaul through Congress and signed into law in December.

He also played a key role in persuading President Donald Trump to sign proclamations scaling back two sprawling national monuments in Utah that Hatch and other conservatives considered examples of government overreach.

In a statement, Hatch said he decided to retire at the end of his seventh term after “much prayer and discussion with family and friends” over the holiday break.

“I may be leaving the Senate, but the next chapter in my public service is just beginning,” Hatch said.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who now lives in Utah, has been eyeing a Senate run, but Trump had encouraged Hatch to seek re-election.

Romney thanked Hatch in a statement on Facebook and said Hatch “has represented the interests of Utah with distinction and honour.” Romney’s statement did not mention his own plans.

Trump had been open in recent months about pressuring Hatch to stay in the Senate, particularly as Romney’s ambition for the seat became apparent. Trump’s private lobbying campaign was bolstered by a public lovefest, as Trump invited Hatch with him on Air Force One in December as he shrunk the boundaries of the two Utah monuments.