user: Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch forced into primary fight

SANDY, Utah (AP) – Utah Republicans denied a veteran Republican senator a clear path to a seventh and final term Saturday, forcing the 78-year-old lawmaker into a June primary with 37-year-old former state senator.

Sen. Orrin Hatch fell short of the outright nomination by fewer than three dozen votes from the nearly 4,000 delegates at the party convention.

In a matter of weeks, Hatch turned the question of whether he would survive the convention into a question of whether he would reach the 60 percent threshold to earn the nomination outright.

Despite the setback, Hatch holds a significant fundraising edge in what has become the stiffest challenge since his election to the Senate in 1976. The eventual Republican nominee will be the heavy favorite in November because of the Republican dominance in Utah.

"A few months ago, a lot of people weren't giving me a chance. So I feel good. I consider it a victory with everything that happened in the past," Hatch said.

Hatch urged that delegates endorse him so he can help repeal President Barack Obama's health care law and potentially lead the powerful Senate Finance Committee if Republicans regain control of the chamber in the November general election. Hatch argued that he was only one candidate who had the ability to enact the Republican Party's priorities from day one of the next congressional session.

"I'm a tough old bird, and I've never felt more eager," he said.

But State Sen. Dan Liljenquist said that Hatch's seniority was overrated and said that he was ready to work with freshmen Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky in changing how the Senate works.

"It is time for a new generation of leaders. We know it to our bones," Liljenquist said shortly after the results were announced.

While most states rely on primaries to secure a party's nomination, Utah elects delegates to get first crack at determining whether a candidate should earn the nomination outright. In all, 10 candidates ran for the Senate seat and took turns Saturday attempting to convince the delegates to support them. Hatch and Liljenquist advanced from the first round of voting after Hatch got 57 percent of the vote and his challenger took 28 percent.

In the second round, the incumbent earned 59.2 percent of the vote, just short of the 60 percent needed for the outright nomination. As a result, they will face each other in the June 26 primary.

Hatch began laying the groundwork for the convention even before he watched U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett go down to defeat two years ago. With a game plan designed to answer his critics' every claim and with a boost from likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, it's became ever more clear that he wouldn't experience a similar fate.

Hatch has emphasized Romney's endorsement during speeches and debates. Romney introduced Hatch via a recorded video message. Romney said Republicans needed Hatch back in the Senate "if we're going to turn this country around."

Romney is extremely popular in Utah because of his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his leadership during the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

Hatch's top challengers were Liljenquist and state Rep. Chris Herrod, who didn't make the second round after getting just more than 10 percent of the first-round voting.

Whoever wins the Republican primary will face former state Sen. Scott Howell, who received the Democratic nomination on Saturday. Howell lost to Hatch in 2000 and no Democrat from Utah has been elected to the Senate since 1970.

This year's race essentially began in 2010, when Bennett was ousted by delegates fueled by ultraconservative tea party politics.

Hatch shifted to the right rhetorically and with his voting record over the past two years to address the claims that he was not conservative enough.

Bennett's loss frustrated many Republicans, who believed that a vocal minority hijacked the nomination process. This year, turnout at the neighborhood caucus meetings more than doubled and many attendees said they wanted to make sure Hatch wasn't treated in the same way.

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assistant: Veteran Sen. Orrin Hatch has been forced into a primary fight for his seventh term.