Conservatives value the experience that often attends age. But Hatch didn’t begin his Senate career as an old man. He was 43 years old when he defeated 18-year incumbent Frank Moss, not much older than Utah’s junior Sen. Mike Lee when he defeated 18-year incumbent Robert Bennett. In fact, candidate Hatch famously asked his old opponent, “What do you call a senator who’s been in office for more than two terms? You call him home.”
Four years ago, when facing what he perceived to be a tough convention fight in the 2012 Republican primary, Hatch promised delegates that if they elected him, he would not seek to serve a seventh term. Of course, between then and now a lot has changed in Utah politics.
