U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch is in pretty good financial shape as he prepares for his re-election bid next year. His new colleague, Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, still owes a lot of money - $1.4 million - on his successful 1992 U.S. Senate race, the latest Federal Election Commission reports show.
The senior senator from Utah, who wants a fourth six-year term, has $687,283 in cash. Hatch doesn't know whom he may be running against next year. Rep. Bill Orton, D-Utah; state Senate Minority Leader Scott Howell, D-Salt Lake; Utah Education Association president Lily Eskelsen; and Grethe Peterson, wife of former University of Utah president Chase Peterson, are all considering a race against Hatch. Hatch will likely not have a significant challenge within the Republican Party.Hatch raised and spent more than $3 million in his 1988 re-election campaign.
Orton raised $27,990 this year, spent $19,864 - much of that on political consultants and polling - and has $26,524 in cash on hand. Orton, who financed much of his upset 1990 campaign in the 3rd Congressional District himself, said in his report that he still owes himself $21,690.
Rep. Karen Shepherd, D-Utah, is definitely running for re-election to her 2nd District seat next year. Shepherd raised $31,502 this year, spent $25,831 - mostly on travel and political consulting. She has $31,538 in cash on hand, not a bad beginning in a House re-election effort.
Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, has yet to announce his plans for next year. However, most believe Hansen will seek a seventh term. Hansen has traditionally run rather frugal campaigns in his 1st District. He has raised only $3,381 this year, spent $12,504 - $253.99 of which apparently went to buy a gun that Hansen gave away as a door prize at a recent "Western-theme" fund-raiser in Washington, D.C. Hansen has only $13,632 in cash on hand.
Bennett put several million dollars of his own money into his 1992 campaign. His report shows that he still owes himself $1.4 million. Besides that debt to himself, Bennett's campaign is just about out of debt, owing about $73,000. Bennett has been doing some fund raising this year, a rather rare occurrence for a freshman with six years to raise money for his next election. But that fund raising is to pay back as much as possible of the $1.4 million he lent the campaign, said Mike Tullis, Bennett's former campaign manager, who is helping with the fund-raising effort.
If Congress adopts a proposed campaign reform bill now before the House - it has already passed the Senate - Hatch's $687,283 in cash is more than a fourth of the money he can spend on his 1994 campaign. Under the Senate version of the package - which Hatch voted against - candidates face considerable pressure to voluntarily abide by campaign spending limits - limits that are set according to the population of the state in which they run. For Utah, a U.S. Senate campaign would be limited to just over $2 million.