Sen. Orrin Hatch has said he won't seek an eighth term in office, but he's sure raising money like a politician with an eye on 2018. The Utah Republican pulled in $686,500 in campaign donations in the past three months and has more than $1.5 million in his account.
Asked Tuesday to reiterate the 81-year-old senator's retirement plans, Hatch's chief of staff Rob Porter had no comment.
Instead, Porter said Hatch, who was re-elected in 2012 saying it would be his last term, remains focused on "advancing his legislative priorities" as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and Senate president pro-tem (the most senior senator and third in line for presidential succession). As for the fundraising, Porter said: "He continues to raise money for his colleagues and his own campaign committees and has given generously to support GOP candidates."
That's true, but...
"You can't even give that much money away," notes Matthew Burbank, a political scientist at the University of Utah. Hatch has already maxed out on donations to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the 24 incumbent Republican senators up for re-election in 2014, including Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.
He could find other candidates to contribute to, but he'd be hard pressed to unload nearly $700,000.
"There is not really a compelling reason to raise all that money, unless you are thinking of doing something else with it," said Burbank. "The obvious thing would be thinking about running for re-election, despite what he said last time."
After several easy elections, Hatch's 2012 race began as a slog. Tea-party Republicans wanted him out and many mainstream Republicans thought it was time for a fresh face after 36 years.
Hatch beat former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist to win his party's nomination through a $10 million effort to get his supporters elected as party delegates and a big media campaign. Part of his message was that this would be his final campaign.
"I've said it will be my last term," he said in 2012, "but I want to make it the best six years anyone's put in for Utah."
First elected in 1976, Hatch is Utah's longest serving member of Congress in history and when his seventh term comes to a close in January 2018, he will have spent half of his life — 42 years — in the Senate.
This most recent term has been quite a cap to his long career. Hatch has relished his Finance Committee chairmanship that gives him a key role on tax and health-care issues. He's also taken it upon himself to be a vocal defender of the Senate as an institution. His position has made it easy to collect money from political action committees tied to big financial institutions and medical companies, not to mention organizations ranging from O.C. Tanner in Utah to the National Football League.
Some of his close friends insist Hatch is raising money mostly to support other Republicans.
They also note that if he leaves office with money, he could use it to transfer his considerable papers to a library and to keep supporting conservative causes.
They acknowledge that if Hatch does decide to run again, it would be a tough race.
Burbank agrees. "There would be substantially more resistance than last time."
And yet, Hatch has clearly not closed the door on that possibility.
mcanham@sltrib.com
Senate Judiciary Committee member, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, uses a cellphone camera as Chief Justice nominee John Roberts testifies at his confirmation hearing before the committee on Capitol Hill Thursday, Sept. 15, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Sen. Orrin Hatch described his disappointment with the Obama administration during the Tea Party Express rally held in the Draper Amphitheatre Sunday evening with Tea Party leaders and Gov. Gary Herbert. Stephen Holt/Special to the Tribune
Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune U. S. Senator Orrin Hatch was given an honorary degrees during the undergraduate ceremony at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Saturday, May 4, 2013.
Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune Senator Orrin Hatch is interviewed on a local Salt Lake TV news program at the GOP headquarters, Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., left, shares a laugh with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah., second from right, during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Thursday, March 13, 2003 to urge the House to pass Amber Alert legislation. Also participating in the news conference is Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill., Sen. Mary Landrieu, R-La., and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., right. Elizabeth Smart's father said Thursday that Congress should pass a national Amber Alert bill, and he accused a Republican leader of hurting children by trying to use the measure to pass other legislation. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, center right, arrives in Salt Lake City on Friday, June 8, 2012, during a campaign stop fund-raiser and to do a grip-and-grin for Sen. Orrin Hatch.
Tribune file photo Sen. Orrin Hatch and Pres. Ronald Reagan in 1982.
Bill co-sponsors Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., listen as President Barack Obama speaks before signing the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act at the SEED School of Washington, a public boarding school that serves inner-city students facing problems in both the classroom and at home, as Vice President Joe Biden, his wife Jill Biden, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., former President Bill Clinton, and Rosalyn Carter look on in Washington, Tuesday, April 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
FILE - In this April 16, 2010, file photo Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, listens on Capitol Hill in Washington. On Monday, June 28, the committee convenes to consider giving President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan, a lifetime appointment as a justice. Hatch has twice served as committee chairman and participated in hearings for 13 high court nominees, beginning with O'Connor. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
Photo Courtesy of U.S. Senate Historical Office Sen Orrin Hatch and his wife Elaine pose for a photo at a reception for new members of Congress in 1977.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, talks to reporters during a press conference in Washington Thursday. Hatch briefed newsmen on the "Employee Bill of Rights Act of 1977", legislation which he introduced which would give employees the right of free choice to engage in or to refrain from collective bargaining. In background is Rep. John Erlenborn, R -Ill, who introduced a similar bill in the house. Credit: The Salt Lake Tribune Library
Photo Courtesy of U.S. Senate Historical Office Vice President Normal Rockefeller administers the oath of office to Sen. Orrin Hatch in January 1977, with his parents on the right and his wife Elaine on his left.
Senator Orrin Hatch ca. 1976. Credit: The Salt Lake Tribune Library
Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake City - U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a member and former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issues his statement after Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement. Hatch, speaking before the press at the Little America Hotel on Friday, Apr. 9, 2010, expressed his hope that president Obama would not nominate an liberal, activist judge.
WASHINGTON, Une 17--SUPPORT FOR HATCH--President Reagan appears at a fundraiser for Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, Wednesday night in Washington. Reagan urged Utah's voters to support Hatch's bid for re-election next year. (AP Laser Photo - Ron Edmonds) 1987 - trib file photo
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky gathers other Republican senators to call for an amendment to the Constitution requiring a balanced federal budget, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 31, 2011. To the left are Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, conferring with freshman Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
STANDARD-EXAMINER PHOTO BY ROBERT POPE---Senator Orrin Hatch, left talks to Forest Service Chief Stan Tixier about trying to get the Snowbasin landswap reversed, during a meeting in Ogden, Utah with various civic leaders, March 13, 1990. The Forest Service organized a public work meeting on the subject.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, talks about the subpoena issued to President Clinton during the taping of Face the Nation at the CBS studios in Washington Sunday, July 26, 1998. Hatch also talked about the decision by Attorney General Janet Reno to not appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the campaign finance allegations. (AP Photo/Face the Nation, Karin Cooper)
Orrin Hatch, U.S. Senator from Utah, speaks at a news conference on the State Children's Health Insurance Program, known as Schip, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007. Listening at left is Harry Reid, majority leader of the U.S. Senate, and at right is Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. President George W. Bush said yesterday that he is ready to negotiate with congressional Democrats over the program that he vetoed, provided they make helping poor kids the priority. Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/Bloomberg News
Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Senator Orrin Hatch speaks to the Utah delegation at a breakfast honoring him ("Omelets with Orrin") at the Hilton Hotel in Tampa, Florida, Monday, August 27, 2012 a day ahead of the Republican National Convention.
In addition to being a Senator, Orrin Hatch is a songwriter. He has a keyboard in his Salt Lake office to play some of the songs he's written. photo by Ryan Galbraith
Judge Samuel Alito, right, meets with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. President Bush nominated Alito to the Supreme Court on Monday as a substitute for White House counsel Harriet Miers, who withdrew last week after conservatives refused to support her. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, talks to the media as Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., left, watches during a break in the Senate impeachment trial of President Clinton, Saturday, Jan. 23, 1999, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The question and answer phase of the trial continued Saturday. (AP Photo/Doug Mills)
thc 18orin a1 6 x 9 U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Ut., left, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, speaks during a news conference with U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Monday afternoon, Aug. 17, 1998, in Des Moines, Iowa. In speaking about President Clinton's testimony Monday before a grand jury, Hatch said that he thinks that Congress must do what's in the best interest of the American people, which may or may not include impeachment. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, left, greets Attorney General Janet Reno on Capitol Hill Wednesday, April 30, 1997, prior to Reno testifying before the committee to discuss Justice Department operations. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, right, talks to Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt on Capitol Hill Tuesday April 29, 1997 prior to their testifying before a House Resouces Committee hearing on the management of the Grand Staircase National Monument in Utah. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)
Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch -trent/photo
IMG 0312: Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, talks with Air Force Capt. Tony McIllece of Sandy, Utah. Capt. McIllece, (to the left of Sen. Hatch) is a military lawyer who works with the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. Across from Sen. Hatch is Capt. Christopher Watt of Wyoming. In the background is Army 1st Lt. Russell Yauney of Salt Lake City. All photos were taken in the U.S. Embassy dining facility in Baghdad's International Zone by U.S. Army Capt. Brad Leighton of the Georgia National Guard's 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
Tribune File Photo Orrin Hatch, Nov. 20, 1977.
Donate to the newsroom now. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax deductible