Isn’t there a thing called “Senatorial courtesy” whereby a senator from the state of a nominated judge can object and, by custom, the Senate will vote not to confirm?
I recall this from an old civics class. I have no idea whether the practice is still followed.
The way I was taught it, “Senatorial courtesy” referred to a president always vetting potential nominees for a state with the senior senator from such state; failing to do so could result in the senior senator onbjecting to the nomination and the other senators would all join him in opposition.
However, the practice was later changed so that the senior senator from the state *from the president’s party* would be the one that would do the vetting. In the case of Utah, there are no Democrat Senators, so Obama would either not vet the nomination at all or, perhaps, have it vetted by the most senior Democrat in Utah’s House delegation (which just happens to be Matheson’s brother).