Pro-Trump and anti-Trump factions of the Republican Party are gearing up for a confrontation. But instead of the House floor or in the backrooms of the Senate, an all-out war for the future of the GOP may take place in Utah, during the 2018 elections.
It’s no secret that the Republican Party has its share of Trump skeptics. While cracks are forming within the House ranks—the House Freedom Caucus thumbed its nose at the White House over health care, for example—the true battle over whether Trump will define the future of the GOP may come in the Utah Senate race as one of Trump’s top critics, former Independent Presidential candidate Evan McMullin, gears up to run for Orrin Hatch’s Senate seat.
McMullin, one of the GOP’s most vociferous NeverTrumpers, has long rumored to be eyeing a Utah Congressional run, and his campaign earned him significant national name recognition. Last week, he made his intentions clear: He will run in the primary against either Hatch or Rep. Jason Chaffetz, both of whom are up for re-election in 2018.
Trump’s forces are also gearing up to ensure that McMullin isn’t given the opportunity. After weeks of lobbying from Trump officials concerned that McMullin could take the open seat vacated by his retirement, the 83-year-old Hatch said he’d seek another term.
“[Trump’s] pitch is he needs me,” Hatch told CNN. More likely, Trump needs the seat to remain in the hands of a GOPer more concerned with the Senate Finance Committee than Trump’s ties to Russian oligarchs.
On Thursday, Hatch was less certain, but said that he would only retire from the Senate—where he’s served since 1977—if the Republican party could guarantee Mitt Romney, and not McMullin, would be next in line for his seat.
“I’ve expressed it to him,” Hatch told the National Journal. “I can see why he might not want to do it, but I can also see why if he did it, it would be a great thing for America.”
Romney is, of course, no fan of Trump. But he hasn’t staked his career on being the leader of the internal Trump resistance.
Trump won only 38% of the Republican vote in the 2016 primaries, and certain factions of the party haven’t yet warmed to the idea of putting the bombastic former real-estate developer in charge of directing the party’s future, or defining its core principles.
McMullin, for his part, says his options are open. If Hatch runs again, Chaffetz may be ripe for a Republican primary challenger. Chaffetz has often sided with the Trump Administration during contentious periods in Congress, including on the recent failed healthcare bill.
