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State Sen. Dan Liljenquist, R-Bountiful, is moving closer to waging, possibly, an in-party challenge to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, next year.
"It's certainly something I'm looking at," Liljenquist told The Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday. He said that after a glowing Washington Post story appeared online about him, part of a series looking at up-and-coming politicians nationally.
"I respect Orrin Hatch. He's given four decades of wonderful service to Utah," Liljenquist told The Tribune. "But I want to take on entitlement reform and fiscal issues. We've got a massive problem, and someone needs to address them." Liljenquist, 36, was just 2 years old when Hatch, 77, was first elected to the U.S. Senate.
The Washington Post story on Tuesday noted that GOP leaders "picked the first-term legislator to reform the state pension system last year. The plan he came up with — along with the methodical way he crafted it — won accolades even from his political opponents. A year later he took on Medicaid reform, with similar results."
It added, "Liljenquist has won kudos in some national circles already. The Wall Street Journal op-ed page called his reform a model for the country."
Liljenquist told The Tribune that he is looking more at "running for the Senate" than challenging Hatch. "But I would take on him or anyone else" in the race to win a chance to push his issues in the Senate, he said.
"I haven't made up my mind yet whether to run," he said. "I will probably decide sometime this fall." He said he has not yet begun fundraising for a possible Senate run.
Liljenquist is not the only person considering a run against Hatch. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, has said he is considering it. Also, Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, has said that depending on how the Legislature redraws the boundaries of his House district, he may consider a run for the Senate.
After tea party and other conservatives helped to dump then-Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, in the Republican convention last year by contending he was not conservative enough, Hatch has been seen as a potential target, too.
Hatch has been taking the threats seriously and has been reaching out to conservative groups. He also has amassed nearly $3 million in his campaign accounts and expanded his campaign staff to 20 people, according to disclosure reports that he filed last week.
Dave Hansen, Hatch's campaign manager, recently stepped down as chairman of the Utah Republican Party so that he could focus on Hatch's campaign.
Hansen said last week, "We had to start early and we have done so. ... We are not running against anybody. We are trying to make sure we are organized the way we want to be organized."
Liljenquist was elected to the state Senate in 2008 — first competing against seven other Republicans. He is no stranger to taking on powerful people and challenged Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, for the presidency of the Senate but lost by one vote.
Liljenquist once worked for Mitt Romney's old employer, Bain & Co., as a consultant to distressed companies. He is now president and chief operating officer now of FOCUS Services, a call center.