UT-3: Chaffetz retiring

[RogueBeaver]

Presumably in prep for his 2020 gubernatorial run.

[BuckeyeNut]

WOAH! Source?

[Hindsight was 2020]

Boom

[MAINEiac4434]

I'm happy!

[Suburbia]

This seat is Likely R. He has an executive mentality at heart.

[The Other Castro]

WOAH! Source?

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexislevinson/utah-congressman-jason-chaffetz-will-not-seek-re-election?utm_term=.yaG3GNDX4B#.cja4Joe6Ok

[Brittain33]

This seat is Likely R. He has an executive mentality at heart.

Could it be Safe R?

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

McMullin 2018

[JMT]

I think he will likely run for Governor in 2020. This may also be a way to clear the Senate field for Mitt Romney. Maybe Orrin Hatch will retire knowing that Chaffetz won't try to challenge Romney in a primary.

[RI]

Hooray!

[KingSweden]

Terrific news!

[Mr. Smith]

Hooray!

[rob in cal]

   This is clearly a case of the deep state forcing Chaffetz out to pave the way for the Mcmuffin to run, and to reward him for his attempt to deny Trump Utah's electoral votes last November.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Mormon Rep JasonC       YaBB God ★★★★★ Posts: 32667

I'm Retiring « on: April 19, 2017, 12:03:07 pm » After careful consideration, I have made a decision; I am getting rid of the thing that people said that they don’t want. And, you know what? Politicians have choices. And I’ve got to make a choice. So maybe, rather than getting that new term that I just love and I want to go spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on, maybe I should invest that in health care. I’ve got to make these decisions myself. My King is alive!

[Figueira]

Good. Probably Safe R (although I guess Democrats should try) but whoever wins probably won't be as bad as Chaffetz.

[The Other Castro]

Hmmm and where does jasonforgovernor.com redirect to? Interesting.

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

McMullin 2018

Nevermind.

http://www.sltrib.com/home/5191365-155/mcmullin-owes-nearly-670000-for-his

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Has he already ruled out a 2018 Senate run? I should be writing a finals paper right now, too lazy to run back to Wiki

[Zioneer]

Besides McMullin, there's a couple of other possible Republican candidates, according to the Salt Lake Tribune:

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McCay and Henderson I would consider establishment-y, with Henderson being a bit more of an outsider, but also slightly more moderate. Henderson's legislative district is closer to the district's main powerbase in Utah County.

[Gass3268]

Cox appears to be a decent guy, a step above Chaffetz.

[publicunofficial]

Has he already ruled out a 2018 Senate run? I should be writing a finals paper right now, too lazy to run back to Wiki

Said he will likely run for office again, but not 2018.

Expect him to run for Governor.

[Free Bird]

He probably expected Hatch to retire and got pissed off.

[Zioneer]

Cox appears to be a decent guy, a step above Chaffetz.

Speaking as a Utah Democrat, here's my honest hierarchy of respect for Utah Republicans who could or have run statewide for Senate or Governor.

1) Spencer Cox or Evan McMullin: Both seem equally as good, and will keep civility and honesty in the UT GOP.

2) One of the Romneys (Mitt, Josh, or Tagg): I do hate the idea of dynasties, but as political dynasties go they aren't the worst, and they're definitely not firebreathing Trumpists or Tea Partiers.

3) Jon Huntsman: Yeah, I hate his support of Trump, and I'm aware of his far-right economic views, but honestly, he's got relatively moderate social views, and he isn't the worst we could get. Plus he's got a sane foreign policy, which would be more important if he ran for Senate.

4) Random state legislators: This of course depends on the legislator, but someone like Deidre Henderson is alright, and at least she's new blood rather than Hatch. There are some legislators I think are decent, though many are just as awful as any Tea Partier (Brian Greene is one of the worst). Putting it at 4 because I would like some, but would hate others.

5) Orrin Hatch: Obviously only for Senate, my biggest issues with him are that he's "served" way too long, and that he constantly breaks his term limit promise. I'm obviously opposed to his policies, but that's to be expected with a Utah Republican. My main issue is his duplicity with his promises to retire.

6) Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes: I dunno, he could run for something statewide if he wanted, but I dislike his Trumpist loyalty and his refusal to expand Medicaid or do anything else even close to moderation.

7) Jason Chaffetz: Spineless weasel, tries to play Trumpism and anti-Trumpism both ways, obnoxious, far-right, voted to defund the embassy security that was such an issue at Benghazi, etc.

[Zioneer]

Also, a few more news bits about potential candidates for Chaffetz's seat:

From KUTV:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

From Fox13, Utah's local Fox affiliate (actually pretty liberal)

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I cut off candidates we already know are running in both articles, to avoid plagiarizing, and in the second article is some stuff about the gubernatorial election that I did not include.

[KingSweden]

Cox seems like a good guy (he has also Tweeted at me). Seems like he'd make a good Governor