Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday expanded his list of possible 2016 GOP presidential candidates — floating a number of dark horses, including New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R).
Romney named a laundry list of eight potential candidates when asked whom he would support for the Republican nomination.
{mosads}He also continued to include New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on the list amid the bridge scandal that has engulfed Christie’s administration.
Romney reiterated that he would likely hold off on endorsing a candidate until the GOP nomination was decided.
“Right now, we’ve got a very full group of people — Marco Rubio; Jeb Bush; Chris Christie; Rand Paul; Paul Ryan, of course, my running mate, an extraordinary man; John Kasich, governor of Ohio, doing a great job there; Scott Walker in Wisconsin,” he said on CNN.
“We’ve got a lot of very good people. Susana Martinez in … New Mexico. … I didn’t mention Mike Huckabee. Of course, Mike Huckabee ran before, did a fine job. He may be coming back and giving it another shot.”
Last year, Martinez said the time for a female president is “long past due.” But when asked if she would consider running on the national ticket, she said she was “focused on New Mexico.”
In 2012, Martinez said serving as the guardian of her developmentally disabled sister would prevent her from living away from New Mexico.
During the interview, Romney said he continued to believe Christie after new revelations surrounding the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge.
“Chris is a straightforward guy,” he said. “When he tells you something, you can count on it. And I’m counting on Chris and — and believe that he — if he decides to get into national politics, he’ll do very well, indeed.”