As of 6AM Thursday (source: elections.utah.gov)
SALT LAKE CITY — At least eight Republicans have stepped forward to challenge former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in the Utah Senate race.
More may still file. The deadline is 5PM Thursday.
Romney already announced he will gather signatures to get to the ballot, and shrugging off a recent attempt by a Utah GOP committee to stop that process. Their ruling was deemed unable to affect candidates who already signed up to run this year.
The latest Republican to file is Alpine state representative Mike Kennedy. The last time Mitt Romney ran against a Kennedy for the U-S Senate, he lost against Ted Kennedy in 1994 in Massachusetts.
Kennedy’s video announcing his candidacy does not use Romney’s name but appears to refer to him. Last week, Republican Larry Meyers released what is believed to be the first attack ad in the race.
Three Democrats, a member of the Constitution Party and a member of the Independent American Party are also trying to replace Senator Orrin Hatch, who is retiring at the end of his seventh term.
The most prominent name on the Democrat side is Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson.
A UtahPolicy poll released in January showed Romney would easily beat Wilson if the election were held today.
