Poll: Hatch holds huge lead ahead of Tuesday's primary

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) holds a commanding lead heading into Tuesday's election, according to a  poll from The Deseret News.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) holds a commanding lead heading into Tuesday's election, according to a poll from The Deseret News.

Hatch leads former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist (R) by 60 to 32 percent in the poll.

He has outspent his opponent by a wide margin, and although the conservative group FreedomWorks made him a top target early on, Hatch's strong support from rank-and-file Republicans made him a less attractive target. 

The six-term senator refused to debate Liljenquist except for one radio debate, which the young former state lawmaker has focused on in recent weeks as a reason to defeat Hatch. But the poll indicates that message hasn't caught on.

The poll was conducted from June 15-21 and has a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.

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