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Draper • State Sen. Dan Liljenquist held his first town hall meeting Tuesday night, his most visible move toward a potential challenge to six-term Republican U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch.

The Bountiful lawmaker didn't directly disparage Hatch during his 90-minute comments to about two dozen Republicans at the home of fellow GOP state Sen. Howard Stephenson, but acknowledged that he is interested in running for the seat.

"There has been an institutionalization of the Senate where it is a lifelong calling," Liljenquist said in what appeared to be a swipe at Hatch, who is seeking a seventh term. He said state lawmakers have resisted growth in federal programs, but Utah's federal delegation hasn't done anything to help. "I think it's a generational shift and has got to change."

His decision likely hinges on his family situation. Liljenquist, who is 36 years old, has six children under age 11.

"I've got a young family," he said. "If we're going ahead with something like this we're going in with our eyes wide open."

Liljenquist plans to hold about 10 similar town hall gatherings between now and November, when he'll make up his mind whether to challenge Hatch for the GOP nomination.

Hatch's campaign manager, Dave Hansen, said Liljenquist obviously has to take a careful look at the race and make a decision.

"Obviously I would prefer he didn't run, but I'd prefer nobody ran, Republican or Democrat," Hansen said.

Hatch held a telephone town hall Tuesday evening during which Hansen said a few hundred people called in to listen and talk to the senator. Most of them were worried about the state of the economy and the solvency of Social Security and Medicaid, Hansen said, and the senator assured them he would fight to sustain the programs.

Hatch has been pummeled by tea party groups and conservative Republicans for not being conservative enough and serving too long in the Senate. But the strongest potential opponent, U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, announced last month that he would run for re-election to the House, bypassing a "multimillion-dollar bloodbath" that would result from a run against Hatch.

That leaves Liljenquist and possibly tea party co-founder David Kirkham as the most likely Republican opponents.

Gordon Jones, who worked on Hatch's campaign in 1976 and other Utah politicians' bids since, said he is "very interested" in Liljenquist's future and would like to see him run against the incumbent senator.

"[Hatch] has been there too long," said Jones, who is a Republican state delegate. "It was never intended to be a permanent calling. They wanted you to go and serve for a term or two and then go home."

Jones said he is most drawn to Liljenquist because he has tried to reform entitlements in Utah: Liljenquist sponsored bills to reform the state pension system and to control Medicaid growth. "Hatch has been part of the problem with creating and expanding the entitlement programs," Jones said.

Liljenquist focused his discussion mainly on the pension and Medicaid reform and blasted Congress for expanding, instead of controlling, entitlement growth.

"They have been criminal, in my opinion, in decisions that will bankrupt this country," he said.

When it comes to Social Security, he said that should include means testing for beneficiaries — meaning high-income retirees may not receive the same level of benefits as lower-income counterparts.

He said younger people are going to work longer and the retirement age should be raised, and he likes the idea of individual accounts that allow taxpayers to invest Social Security funds in the market.

Spencer Haymond said he likes Liljenquist's ideas about reform, but he doesn't think they go far enough and would like to see the government entitlement programs eliminated entirely.

"We're still on a sinking ship and until we get back to the founding principles of individual responsibility and accountability, we're doomed," he said.