Chaffetz Won't Challenge Hatch

Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz will not challenge incumbent Republican Orrin Hatch, after all:

“If I were to run an interparty battle it would be a multimillion-dollar bloodbath,” Chaffetz said Monday. “I don’t think that’s necessarily in my best interests. I don’t think it’s in the best interest of our party, the nation or our state.”

Chaffetz said a few short months ago he was almost certain to get into the race. He had circled Sept. 27 on his calendar to make his announcement. He was dissuaded from running, he said, by his high-profile role in the recent debt ceiling debate.

It seems like the party leadership wanted him to stay put:

“I could spend the next 15 months campaigning to do Senator Hatch’s job, or I could spend those 15 months doing the job I was elected to do,” Chaffetz said. “I think my chances were very, very good at beating Senator Hatch. We’ll never know for sure because I’m going to focus on the House.”

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