Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch Announces Retirement, With Speculation Focused On Romney
The longest-serving Republican in the Senate says he will not seek an eighth term this fall. Former 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is said to be mulling over a bid for the open seat.
Updated at 2:55 p.m. ET
The longest-serving Republican senator in American history is finally ready to call it quits.
Utah GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch announced on Tuesday that he will not run for re-election in 2018 and will leave the Senate at the end of his current term, after 42 years in his seat.
"When the president visited Utah last month, he said I was a fighter. I've always been a fighter. I was an amateur boxer in my youth, and I brought that fighting spirit with me. "But every good fighter knows when to hang up the gloves. And for me, that time is soon approaching."
