This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Above: Orrin Hatch says nice things about his friend Ted Kennedy. We think it speaks well of Hatch. Others might not. That's why we have elections.

- Hatch for Senate: Seniority gives Utah national clout - Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

Seniority. In the U.S. Senate, it's the measurement that matters. With it you can move mountains. Without it, you and the state you represent are largely irrelevant. That is the first big reason why Utah voters should return Orrin Hatch to the U.S. Senate, and why Republicans should choose him as their nominee in the June 26 primary.If the Republicans gain control of the Senate in November's election, Hatch could become the second most-powerful leader in the chamber. That power is of inestimable value to the Beehive State's interests. [read the rest...]

- Sean Reyes for A.G.: A lawyer first, not a politician - Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

Sean Reyes has never been a prosecutor, nor has he worked in a government law office. He's never been a county attorney or assistant D.A. He's not got political name recognition and he has never held elected office. So why would we endorse him to be the Republican nominee for Utah's next attorney general?He's only 41, yet he worked in one of Salt Lake City's big downtown law firms, Parsons Behle & Latimer, for 15 years, making partner. He has litigated major cases, and has abundant trial experience. But most important, he's a lawyer, not a politician. Think Scott Matheson Sr. [read the rest ...]

- Playing catch up: West Jordan tax hike necessary - Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

Twenty years of local growth have met the global economic downturn in Utah's fourth largest city. So members of the West Jordan City Council have taken their professional staff's advice and approved a 2013 budget that includes a 17 percent increase in the city's property taxes.That much of a hike in a single year is no fun, not for the council and not for the city's ever-larger population. But when a city's population skyrockets from 68,000 to 104,000 in 10 years, a long record of managing without any increase in the city's property tax rate has got to come to an end. [read the rest ...]