Brent Orrin Hatch, son of late Sen. Orrin Hatch, files to run for Senate seat once held by his father
Jan 2, 2024, 4:29 PM
Brent O. Hatch, son of former Sen. Orrin Hatch, left, talks with former Sen. Jake Garn during a viewing of for Orrin Hatch at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 4, 2022. Orrin Hatch was the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history and the longest-serving from Utah, died April 23 at age 88. (Deseret News, Scott G Winterton)
SALT LAKE CITY — Brent Orrin Hatch on Tuesday filed as a candidate running for Mitt Romney’s Senate seat, which was previously held by Hatch’s father, the late Sen. Orrin Hatch.
Although he hasn’t held any elected office, Hatch previously worked in Washington as an associate White House counsel to President George H.W. Bush and a law clerk to former Judge Robert H. Bork.
“I am not a professional politician. I left Washington at an early age. I have worked for over 33 years here in Utah as a lawyer protecting the rights of individuals and companies,” Hatch said in a prepared statement announcing his candidacy. “But I still have an insider’s knowledge of the highest levels of government from serving Presidents Reagan and Bush in the White House, working with Congress, and in the courts.”
Hatch pointed to perennial political flashpoints such as the federal budget, inflation and border security as policy areas where the government “cannot continue like it has for the past several years.”
“We need to elect people who have had real jobs, had to make payrolls, and are not wed to lobbyists and the political class — people who speak plainly and use common sense,” he said in the statement.
Hatch is the latest of several candidates to join the race for Romney’s seat, after the state’s junior senator opted not to seek a second term. Romney preceded Sen. Orrin Hatch upon his retirement in 2018. The elder Hatch had served in the Senate for 42 years and was the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history before he was surpassed by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, in 2023.
This story will be updated.
