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Nov. 6,
2012 U.S. Senate |
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Plurality: 355,735 votes (35.33 percentage points). UT
Elections
Notes: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R), first elected in 1976, was elected to a seventh term, fending off a primary challenge and then defeating former state Sen. Scott Howell (D) and three other candidates by a wide margin. Hatch faced opposition from tea party activists and aligned groups, and this came to the fore at the Republican state convention in Sandy on April 21. Challengers included former State Sen. Dan Liljenquist, who resigned from the legislature on Dec. 15, 2011, after less than one term, and launched his campaign on Jan. 4, and state Rep. Chris Herrod, who announced his candidacy on Jan. 7. Seeking to avoid a surprise, as had happened to Sen. Bob Bennett two years earlier, Hatch's campaign built up a formidable operation in advance of the convention, spending a reported $5 million to ensure a strong representation of Hatch supporters. Hatch needed support of 60% of the delegates to avoid a primary and he came very close; in the final round of voting he obtained support of 59.2% to 40.8% for Liljenquist. In the lead up to June 26 primary, Hatch and Liljenquist debated once, on June 15 on the Doug Wright Show on KSL Radio. Hatch easily won the primary by a 66.46% to 33.54% margin. Howell, unopposed for the Democratic nomination, served as a state Senator from 1990-2000, including eight years as Minority Leader. He worked for the IBM Corporation for 34 years. Hatch and Howell debated two times: on Oct. 17 at BYU broadcast by KBYU-TV (>) and on Oct. 26 on the Doug Wright Show on KSL Radio (>). Open Secrets reports that the Hatch campaign spent $13.1 million to $420,779 for the Howell campaign (>). Meanwhile, at the top of the ticket Mitt Romney won by his widest margin of any state, 48.04 percentage points. Campaign Managers: Orrin Hatch: Dave Hansen Chairman of the Republican Party of Utah, 2009-10. Also Hatch's campaign manager in 2006. Worked on Fred Lampropoulos for Governor in 2004 and John Swallow for Congress (UT-2) in 2002. Regional political director at the RNC, 2001-02. Political director at the NRSC, 1997-2001. Regional political director at the RNC, 1993-97. Executive director of the Utah Republican Party, 1991-93. Deputy lieutenant governor of the State of Utah, 1985-91. Regional political director at the RNC, 1984-85. Executive director of the Utah Republican Party, 1978-84. High school teacher, 1975-78. Executive director of the Montana Republican Party, 1973-74. High school teacher, 1971-73. B.A. from Brigham Young University. Scott Howell: Emily Hollingshead Independent web site designer based in Cedar City, Utah from 1999. Campaign manager on Karen Morgan for State Senate, 2008. Communications director for the Utah House Democratic Caucus. Democratic nominee for State Senate District 28 in 2006. Worked as a training and marketing presenter and earlier as a technical support consultant. Undergraduate degree in theatre arts and liberal studies from Utah State University; co-chaired College Democrats there. See also: David Catanese. "Hatch falls short." Politico, Apr. 21, 2012. Kyle Trygstad and David M. Drucker. "Once Endangered, Orrin Hatch Battles Back in Utah." Roll Call, Mar. 19, 2012. Robert Gehrke. "Rep. Chris Herrod joins campaign to defeat Orrin Hatch." Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 7, 2012. Kyle Trygstad. "Dan Liljenquist Launches Bid to Unseat Orrin Hatch." Roll Call, Jan. 4, 2012. Staff. "Insights from an old political warrior – Dave Hansen." Utah Policy, Sept. 21, 2020. |
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