Romney on possible reelection bid: ‘I’m convinced that if I run, I win’

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who’s up for reelection in 2024, said in an interview published on Wednesday that “I’m convinced that if I run, I win.”

In the interview with Politico, Romney didn’t say whether he would seek a second term as senator but projected confidence that he would win if decided to do so.

“I’ve faced long odds: Getting the nomination in 2012 was a long shot, becoming a Republican governor in one of the most liberal states in America, Massachusetts. … So I’m convinced that if I run, I win. But that’s a decision I’ll make,” the first-term Utah senator told the news outlet.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP presidential nominee, has made a name for himself bucking his own party and becoming one of the Republican Party’s most vocal critics of former President Trump. In each of the two Trump impeachment trials, Romney voted to convict the former president, being the only GOP senator to do so in the first trial and among one of seven GOP senators the second time around. Trump was ultimately acquitted in both trials.

The Utahn won his primary in 2018 against Republican Mike Kennedy by over 40 points, gliding to an easily won election that November in the red state. And while the 2022 midterms demonstrated that voters rejected many of Trump’s nominees, including those who projected election denialism, Trump voters are still a critical part of the GOP base.

It’s not clear how Romney’s frosty criticism of Trump might fare among Utah voters, but Politico noted that members of the GOP Senate leadership indicated they would endorse another senatorial bid should Romney run again.

“He’s been a really important part of our conference. People respect his intelligence, his assessment of the era we find ourselves in. And I think his running for reelection would be very important,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told Politico. “It’s important for the Republican Party and the country that he runs again.”