The head of the Utah Republican Party isn’t excited about Mitt Romney’s expected run for retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch’s seat, suggesting the former governor of Massachusetts is a carpetbagger and a bad fit for the state.
Rob Anderson, the state party chairman, told The Salt Lake Tribune that the prospect of Mr. Romney running in Utah is similar to when Hillary Clinton moved to New York and then ran for the U.S. Senate.
“I think he’s keeping out candidates that I think would be a better fit for Utah because, let’s face it, Mitt Romney doesn’t live here, his kids weren’t born here, he doesn’t shop here,” Mr. Anderson told the newspaper.
“I have two questions for Mitt. First of all, why? And how do you expect to represent Utah when you don’t live here?” Mr. Anderson said.
Mr. Romney plans to announce Thursday he is running and most political observers believe that he is the clear favorite to win the party’s nomination, and then the seat in the November election.
Mr. Romney raised some eyebrows last month when he changed the location of his Twitter profile from Massachusetts to Holladay, Utah, where he owns a home.
While his candidacy is generating excitement among GOP observers, Mr. Anderson said Mr. Romney is “”using name recognition to win a seat.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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