SandBoxBlogs: Red State "Election Year Barometer: Watch Sens. Dick Lugar & Orrin Hatch"

'scorpio0679' Diary:
"For those who have written-off the TEA party as having lost influence or worse yet, dead, will have their first real test coming up in a few weeks. Not long ago, Orrin Hatch, the long-time senator from Utah, was narrowly prevented from walking away with the GOP nomination when the TEA party prevented him from achieving 60 percent of the vote at the state’s nominating convention. He will now face challenger Dan Liljenquist in a primary election this June. Orrin Hatch is a long-time Washington insider with moderate tendencies who once stated that he wished to punch conservative activists in the mouth and that the TEA party was filled with radical libertarians.

Similarly, Dick Lugar, the 36-year incumbent senator from Indiana, has been in the TEA party’s cross-hairs for a long time. After a conference of 70 TEA party groups declared their unanimous opposition to his re-nomination, conservative Richard Mourdock declared his candidacy to take him on. The most recent indicators suggest that Lugar is at serious risk of losing in the May 8 primary. The Washington Post reports that some Lugar supporters may be bailing on him in the homestretch. Remember that Lugar is the guy that takes money from George Soros, refused to sign a letter supporting the lawsuit against Obamacare, voted to confirm both Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, and has a horrible record on gun rights.

Taking on and defeating entrenched incumbents is nothing new to the TEA party. If, as some claim, the TEA party’s day has come and gone, well-funded establishment moderates like Sens. Lugar and Hatch should easily dispatch their insurgent opponents. On the other hand, if the coming electoral season will be another TEA party bloodbath (ala Fall 2010), these two primaries may well be the warning bells....."
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SandBoxUtah: Deseret News "FreedomWorks endorses Mia Love, Dan Liljenquist"

 Lisa Riley Roche and Dennis Romboy:
"SALT LAKE CITY — A national tea party organization has endorsed Utah Republicans Mia Love in 4th Congressional District and Dan Liljenquist in the U.S. Senate race.

Meantime, Gov. Gary Herbert declined again Thursday to back Sen. Orrin Hatch, saying he likes both the longtime senator and his primary election opponent Liljenquist.

Though FreedomWorks didn't formally back Liljenquist before the state GOP convention last weekend, it has actively organized opposition to Hatch's re-election campaign for the past year. Liljenquist forced Hatch into a primary runoff, the six-term senator's first since being elected in 1976.

“We have been working with Utah conservatives since last May to elect the strongest and most consistent advocate for conservative economic policy, and Dan has proven himself to be the man for the job," said Russ Walker, FreedomWorks national political director...."  (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: The Hill/Ballot Box "Hatch falls just short at Utah GOP convention, will face primary"

Cameron Joseph:
"Sen. Orrin Hatch fell just short of an outright victory at the Utah Republican convention, meaning he will face a primary to secure the GOP nomination for his own Senate seat.
Hatch finished the second round of balloting with 59.1 percent of the vote, tantalizingly close to the 60 percent threshold he needed to lock up his party's nomination at the convention.

He'll face former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist (R) in a primary, a race in which he starts off with a big edge in money and in the polls...."  (Read more? Click title)