Sen. Orin Hatch said Tuesday that he intends on running for another term in 2018, but he won’t make a final decision until the end of 2017 or early 2018.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Hatch cited his chairmanship of the influential Senate Finance Committee.
“I’m planning on running again because I still have the chairmanship of the Finance Committee and they’ll never be another Utahn that’s chairman of the committee, at least not for 40 or 50 years,” Hatch said.
Hatch has wielded the gavel of the powerful tax-writing committee since the start of the last Congress in 2015, meaning that under Republican conference rules he would have two more years of eligibility as chairman at the start of his potential next term in 2019.
There has been widespread speculation that Hatch would retire next year. When he ran for his seventh term in 2012, he promised that it would be his final go-round in Washington. Hatch seems poised to go back on that vow.
Hatch has reportedly told close friends that he would retire next year. Additionally, Rep. Mia Love was overheard telling a colleague that Hatch was going to retire next year, a statement she later walked back.
Former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is reportedly preparing to run for the Senate seat if Hatch decides to retire.
One potential challenger for the seat, Sutherland Institute President Boyd Matheson, danced around a possible run next year for a few weeks but announced Monday he would not mount a campaign.
