Former Massachusetts governor, and 2012 presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, is contemplating running for Senate in the 2018 congressional elections.
Sources close to Romney say that he is planning to run for Senate in Utah, should Sen. Orrin Hatch decide to retire. Although Hatch is 83-year-old, he has indicated interest in running for an eighth term in 2018, but a formal announcement has not been made in either case. While Romney’s decision is contingent on Senator Hatch’s, sources say that Romney is hoping to make a final decision no later than late December of this year.
Earlier this year, both Hatch and Romney were giving mixed signals as to their Senate intentions – with Orrin Hatch saying in May that, “I’ve talked to Mitt Romney. He’s not going to run for this seat. I would be glad for him if he would.”
But the path to becoming a Utah Senator may not be a shoe-in for the erstwhile Presidential candidate. Romney is expected to face competition from House of Representatives member Chris Stewart, who represents Utah’s 2nd congressional district. In August, Stuart responded to rumors that Romney would be his competition, “If he chooses not to run — and he’s indicated that he probably will — but if he were to change his mind and not run, then I believe that we would.”
According to a poll released Monday, Romney is highly favored to win against the likely Democratic challenger Jenny Wilson by a striking ^$% to 24% margin.
Over the course of the 2016 election, Mitt Romney became a vocal critic of President Trump after he moved back to Utah in2015. It was in Utah where Romney enjoyed his highest margin of support of all the states he won – 73% to Obama’s 25% in the 2012 election.
Romney graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) and is a devout Mormon, for which he is most frequently called “Utah’s Adopted Son”. He has served as the CEO of the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics. As the CEO he recruited sponsors who were previously scared by the bribery scandals and federal investigations related to the International Olympics Committee.
Romney’s eldest son, Tagg had then said, “If he were to run again, I believe he would be much more willing to open up and share who he is — not by asking others to learn the doctrines of his faith but by speaking of the values of love and service that it has taught him.”
