Three-term Republican Sen. Bob Bennett finds himself in the toughest race of his political career. His opposition, though is not coming from Democratic ranks, but from within his own party.
Bennett, 76, spent the early years of his career working as a legislative assistant, including a year working for his father, Wallace Bennett, who served four terms in the Senate from 1950 until his retirement in 1974. He then was the congressional liaison for the Department of Transportation. Bennett left that job in 1970 and embarked on a career in business. When he ran for the Senate in 1992, his first bid for public office, he was the chief executive officer at Franklin-Quest (now Franklin-Covey), which manufactures day planners and organizers. Although there was a competitive primary in the 1992 race, Bennett took 51 percent. He spent $1.4 million of his own money in that race, but his opponent, Joe Cannon, spent $5 million out of his own pocket. Bennett went on to win the general election with 55 percent against then-Democratic Rep. Wayne Owens. He took 64 percent in
Subscribe Today
Our subscribers have first access to individual race pages for each House, Senate and Governors race, which will include race ratings (each race is rated on a seven-point scale) and a narrative analysis pertaining to that race.