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SALT LAKE CITY — As Utahns prepare to caucus this week, some people are closely watching Sen. Orrin Hatch's bid for a seventh term.
At Utah's 2010 GOP convention, delegates voted to oust 18-year GOP Sen. Robert Bennett. Political analysts say disgruntled conservative voters had greater momentum back in 2010. However, this election cycle, they're watching incumbents like Hatch and say his days in the U.S. Senate are numbered.
"So what remains to be seen is whether there's enough momentum from that effort to carry over and defeat Sen. Hatch," said Quin Monson, associate director at Brigham Young University's Center for the Study of Election and Democracy.
Monson says Hatch and dozens of supporters have long been recruiting delegates who will support his nomination at the convention.
"He's been compiling lists of possible delegates and reaching out to all sorts of former and potential delegates with pieces of mail and phone calls and other sorts of communication," said Monson.
This week, Tuesday for Democrats and Thursday for Republicans, attendees of these neighborhood caucuses will elect 4,000 delegates to next month's party conventions. The convention delegates will narrow the field. Monson says Hatch is working hard to make sure he makes that exclusive list.
"It's remarkable the resources Hatch puts toward recruiting the right set of 4,000 delegates," said Monson. "It's a small group, but it involves reaching out to a much broader pool to figure out who best to recruit."
Meanwhile, Hatch faces challengers such as former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist, 37, and state Rep. Chris Herrod, 46. He also faces conservative critics who once again want to send Congress their message of frustration with their determination to oust a long-standing incumbent.
