The Hill News

Sen. Orrin Hatch leads Rep. Jason Chaffetz in a potential primary match-up for the Utah GOP Senate nomination in 2012, a new poll found Tuesday.

Hatch, the veteran six-term senator, has an early advantage in a Republican primary over Chaffetz, the two-term congressman thought to be considering a challenge.

Forty-four percent of Utah residents said they would definitely or lean toward supporting Hatch in a Republican primary, while 34 percent would definitely or lean toward Chaffetz, according to a Deseret News/KSL poll. Nine percent prefer neither, and 13 percent were undecided.

The poll suggests that Hatch has an advantage, but Chaffetz is within striking distance of doing what Sen. Mike Lee! (R-Utah) accomplished last year, when he beat out veteran Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) for the GOP nomination for Senate by running to his right.

Hatch has already started to campaign aggressively for another Republican nomination in 2012, having met with Tea Party groups that might back a challenger to him, and having spoken recently at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

But even that maneuvering by Hatch might not spare him from a conservative challenge in his state. Bennett was particularly vulnerable due to the fact that he had to survive a nominating convention, which is typically dominated by party activists, who tend to be more conservative.

Hatch led Chaffetz, 51-35 percent, among respondents who self-identified as Republicans, according to Utah news outlet KSL. By c! ontrast, Chaffetz led Hatch by a reverse tally â€" 51-35 percent â€" among respondents who described themselves as "very conservative."

If Hatch were to survive such a convention, he could benefit from the fact that Utah hosts open primaries, meaning voters who aren't formally registered as Republicans could vote for him in a GOP primary.

The poll, conducted Feb. 8-10 by Dan Jones & Associates, has a 4.4 percent margin of error.