This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sen. Orrin Hatch didn't want to see Lisa Murkowski lose her top spot on the Senate Energy committee, but that doesn't mean he wants her to prevail this November.Murkowski, the senator from Alaska, lost a primary election to a tea party backed candidate, but has since decided to run as a write in. Some of her Republican colleagues didn't react too well to that and made a move to strip her of her title as ranking member of Senate Energy. She already stepped down as the vice chairwoman of the Senate Republican Conference.Her Republican colleagues gather in a closed meeting Wednesday to discuss the matter and decided to let her keep her Energy post. Hatch told reporters Tuesday that he thought that was the appropriate decision."She's still a U.S. senator as far as I'm concerned," Hatch told reporters agreeing with a suggestion that she should stay. "I like her personally. I think she's done a good job."But after the vote Wednesday, a Los Angeles Times reporter asked Hatch, the vice chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, if he thought the decision was an indication that Murkowski may win another term. He responded: "Oh heavens no, I don't think anybody believes that she can win."Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, wanted no part of this discussion, refusing to talk about the Senate Republican decision or Murkowski's election chances.Bennett, who got booted in convention, briefly contemplated his own write-in campaign before deciding against it.The decision to keep Murkowski in place is a short term one. Congress is only going to meet for a few more weeks before the election and after that for only a few more weeks before the end of the year. — Matt Canham and Thomas BurrTwitter: @mattcanham and @thomaswburr