Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) has revealed that he might not run for reelection in 2024.
He spoke about his future plans in politics to The Hill and it appears he sees the writing on the wall because he said he hasn’t decided whether to run.
“I’m going to cross that bridge down the road,” Romney said all but inviting potential primary challengers like former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) to start fundraising.
“I haven’t given a lot of attention yet.
“I don’t think endorsements make any difference in a race to speak of,” Romney said of the midterms.
“People in the race are my friends.
“I usually try and avoid situations where they’ve been friends.”
“I may endorse and I may not, but I really haven’t given it any thought at this point,” he added.
“I think that’s why he is giving this some pause,” said Richard Davis, a professor emeritus of political science at Brigham Young University.
“He will have a tough race with the Republican nomination process.”
Romney could also face a challenge from Republican state Attorney General Sean Reyes who has been eyeing the seat.
“Either one of them would be a formidable opponent for Romney within the Republican Party because he has made himself persona non grata with many of the conservative Republicans,” Davis said.
“He’s actually more popular with Democrats and independents than he is with Republicans right now.
“So getting past the Republican primary would be a tough one.
“He has become sort of the undesirable conscience of the Republican Party.
“They don’t want this conscience, but he is it.
“To vote twice to convict the president of his own party is just something nobody else in Senate history has done.
“It’s highly unusual.”
“If he runs for reelection in a couple of years, I got a good slogan for him: ‘He was right about Russia,’” said Vin Weber, an adviser to Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.
Weber added:
“Mitt Romney is incredibly dedicated to public service.
“I guess I would be surprised if he would hang it up and just go back to private life.”
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, the only Senator in history to vote to convict a president of his own party during an impeachment trial, said recently that he is not sure if he will seek reelection to the upper chamber in 2024. https://t.co/BRuPh99WoJ pic.twitter.com/3vVGGVGDQz
— Newsmax (@newsmax) April 12, 2022
The numbers are in: 8.5% inflation—the highest amount in over 40 years. Hardworking Americans in Utah and across the country are really struggling and Democrats just want to keep spending. Washington must get serious about addressing our spending problem. https://t.co/LrFIizKbiy
— Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) April 12, 2022
