SALT LAKE CITY — Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch may not be ready to walk away from the Senate next year, but if he does, former presidential candidate Mitt Romney would have outsize influence on the nation's politics by taking his place.

That analysis from NBC political director Chuck Todd, moderator of the network's "Meet the Press," comes amid increasing speculation in Utah that Romney is seriously looking at a Senate run as Hatch's retirement seems more likely.

Todd told the Deseret News and KSL Friday that Hatch "keeps flirting with this idea. I think he's in some ways delayed this retirement announcement and it's allowed Mitt Romney to prepare. I think he does like the idea of trying to hand the baton."

Hatch, who had said during his 2012 re-election campaign that he would not seek an eighth term, has been far from clear about his intentions in the months since the story first surfaced.

Last week, Utah's senior senator told KSL Newsradio that while he was "certainly saying" he was running for re-election, he "would be very pleased if Mitt Romney did run for Senate. I would feel good about retirement at that particular point."

Then on Friday, Hatch answered, "not yet," when asked if he was ready for retirement during a discussion about his role in the tax reform debate as chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee.

"I'm still a tough old bird. Nobody outworks me. I work very hard and I really enjoy what I'm doing and I know that it's important. My goal is to do what's right for America, not for the Republican Party or the Democratic Party."

Hatch 'in a unique position'

Todd said he believes Hatch's decision about retirement depends on what Congress is able to accomplish with tax reform, a priority of President Donald Trump and the GOP.

"I think if progress gets made and it looks like something big could happen maybe in 2019 — it may not happen fully in 2018 — then I think Sen. Hatch stays. He may not finish his next term, but I think he does run for re-election if he thinks tax reform is really doable," Todd said.

Having the chance to rewrite the federal tax code, Todd said, is "a big deal. That's a big opportunity. It's a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and when you aspire to be chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, that matters to you."

But if tax reform runs into the same difficulties as the Republican-led efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act did earlier this year, Todd said Hatch might be ready to go.

"If he sees it looking like it's going to go away or it's not going to be what he thought, then maybe he does walk," Todd said. He said he believes Hatch has not made up his mind yet. "I take him at his word."

Hatch spokesman Matt Whitlock said Saturday that as Senate Finance Committee chairman, the senator "is in a unique position to ensure Utah values are presented in tax reform efforts."

Whitlock said Hatch "has a number of factors to consider as he weighs re-election, most importantly what's best for the people of Utah and he believes the Senate's tax reform efforts present a real opportunity to improve the lives of all Utahns."

He said that while the senator "hasn't made a final decision about whether to seek re-election, he plans to by the end of the year."

Hatch appears to already be readying a replacement should he choose to end what will be a 42-year Senate career. Todd said Hatch is looking for someone who reflects his brand of Utah Republicanism.

"There's obviously been a lot of fractures within the Utah Republican Party, between sort of more the establishment wing, think Orrin Hatch, versus the sort of insurgent conservative wing represented best probably by (Utah GOP Sen.) Mike Lee," he said.

Lee was first elected in 2010, after Utah Republican Party delegates voted out Sen. Bob Bennett at their convention. Bennett's loss was the first in the country tied to the tea party movement.

Todd said he believes it's clear Hatch doesn't "want to see more of an insurgent replace him. He's looking for somebody else."

That somebody appears to be Romney. Hatch has talked about the former leader of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City who now calls Utah home taking his place since earlier this year.

Romney has had little to say, other than telling KSL in February that "all doors are open" when it comes to another run for political office and brought up the 2018 Senate race.

"We've got some races coming up here in Utah that are going to be interesting. We'll see what happens on that front," Romney said then, apparently ruling out a third run for president by saying he wasn't looking at anything at the national level.

'Opening for a statesman'

Todd said Romney could play a big role in national politics as a Utah senator.

"I think what's in it for him is he seems like somebody who's not done with a political career. He's looking for a platform. He thinks he has something to say, particularly on foreign policy issues," Todd said.

Romney, the GOP's presidential nominee in 2012 after a White House run in 2008, was among Trump's toughest critics. During the 2016 presidential primary race, Romney labeled Trump a fraud and a phony in a University of Utah speech.

After Trump was elected, Romney was among the candidates interviewed for secretary of state but that hasn't stopped him from continuing to be critical of president on social media.

In August, after Trump said there was blame on both sides for violence stemming from a rally of white supremacists and Nazi sympathizers in Charlottesville, West Virginia, Romney said the president needed to apologize.

"No, not the same. One side is racist, bigoted, Nazi. The other opposes racism and bigotry. Morally different universes," Romney tweeted, following up with a Facebook post urging Trump to "act now for the good of the country."

Todd said if Hatch retires and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who is battling cancer, and other "lions on the Republican side of the aisle" leave the Senate, Romney can help fill the void.

"There's an opening for a statesmanlike figure. So I think Mitt Romney sees an opportunity here to become sort of a pretty big voice in the Republican Party if he has that Senate seat," Todd said.

"Look at it this way, I hope Mitt Romney runs," he said. "We need some more big personalities in the Senate," he said.

And unlike GOP senators in other states including Arizona and Nevada who have gone against Trump on issues and are facing re-election fights backed by the president's supporters, Todd said Romney would have little to worry about in Utah.

"I don't see that in Utah. I just don't," he said. "Especially with somebody with the last name of Romney."

Many Utahns don't like the "Trump brand of the Republican Party," he said. "Take a look at Donald Trump's numbers in Utah. They weren't very good."

Trump won Utah in 2016, but with just 45.5 percent of the vote, his lowest margin of victory in any state. Romney, who served as governor of Massachusetts after the Olympics, remains among Utah's most popular political figures.

A UtahPolicy.com poll released last week showed Romney easily defeating Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson, a Democrat, for the Senate seat, while Wilson would beat Hatch.

Other Republicans have expressed interest in the race if Hatch doesn't run, including Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah. The same poll found that the 2nd District congressman was only four points ahead of Wilson.

Stewart has yet to say if he'd run if Romney gets in the race.

"I don't take the talk of Mitt running very seriously," Stewart told KSL. "That's all I'm going to say."

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