Orrin Hatch considers re-election run, Evan McMullin won't rule out his own bid

Sen. Orrin Hatch says he’s seriously considering a run for re-election in 2018 — and he could face a challenge from Evan McMullin, a former Republican congressional staffer who made a last-minute independent push for the White House this year.

Hatch had said his 2012 run would be his last, but he has since walked that back. He told reporters in Washington that he’s been encouraged to seek an eighth term to continue fighting for government and tax reform.

“I’ve got a lot of people asking me to [run]. A lot of my colleagues are asking me to, a lot of people in Utah are asking me to,” the 82-year-old Hatch said, according to the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. “You know that I had said that … this would be my last term, but circumstances have greatly changed, so I’ll have to look at it.”