Hatch campaigns for Norton in Springs

With one month to go until the Colorado primary, Republicans nationwide are watching the race between GOP Senate contenders Jane Norton and Ken Buck, said Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch at a Thursday campaign stop for Norton’s campaign.

Hatch, a well-known social conservative who has been in Congress since 1977, is helping just a few campaigns this summer, a fact that underscores his view of the race’s importance on the national scene.  

Hatch’s visit was aimed at rallying Colorado Springs Republicans for Norton, who has been sliding in recent polls against her opponent, Buck, Weld County prosecutor.

El Paso County has the state’s deepest pool of Republican primary voters.

“We need to get more support here, the Democrats are spending us into oblivion,” Hatch said before his speech.

Norton, a former Colorado lieutenant governor, would add a dimension that is sorely needed in government and would gain immense acceptance and power as a conservative woman in the Senate, he said.      

Norton has known Sen. Hatch since she worked with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the Reagan Administration and said that she was honored by Hatch’s appearance.  

“He is a dedicated conservative, his priorities are my priorities,” she said.  

Hatch criticized recent health care reform legislation, Sen. Michael Bennet and Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan in his speech to about 70 at Giuseppe’s Depot downtown. 

Hatch said that Norton’s election to the Senate would help get a Republican president into office in 2012 and inspire other conservative women to run for office.

“Let’s set an example for the rest of the country,” he said. “This race is being watched by everybody.”   

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