Utah residents and politicians, as well as those on the national stage, took to social media Tuesday to respond to Sen. Orrin Hatch’s announcement that he will retire at the end of this year after 40 years in the Senate.
The announcement came the form of a video on Twitter, after months of speculation about whether the senator would choose to run for an eighth term. Now, that speculation moves to whether former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will step in to run for the seat.
Polls have shown that three-quarters of Utahns wanted Hatch, 83, to retire, though he’d said previously he was listening to pressure from President Donald Trump, fellow senators and other Utah leaders in weighing another term.
Here’s a look at the reactions to Hatch’s announcement across social media:
