And with no serious Republican in the heavily-Mormon state willing to throw a hat in the ring to challenge Romney, it is a virtual assurance that he will win the election.
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“I am running for the US Senate to serve the people of Utah and bring Utah’s values to Washington”, he said on Twitter.
For his part, Trump has said Romney “choked like a dog” in his failed presidential bids in 2012 and four years earlier, when Romney lost the GOP nomination to Arizona Sen. Trump had urged Hatch to run again in an apparent attempt to head off Romney.
Hatch, 83, who is retiring as the most senior Republican in the Senate, applauded Romney’s announcement.
To not support Mitt Romney as the GOP candidate for the United States Senate will be the end of the Utah Republican Party.
Several Democrats, including Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jennie Wilson, are in the race – but not likely to beat Romney unless something very odd happens.
Romney had originally planned to make the announcement on Thursday, but waiting another day because of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., on Wednesday.
What makes Romney’s expected announcement and desire to occupy a seat in the Senate particularly interesting is his relationship with the man who now occupies the Oval Office.
Utah GOP Chairman Rob Anderson leveled some criticism against Romney over whether he was in Utah, or whether he still claimed MA as his home (Anderson later apologized for any disparaging remarks).
The RNC did not respond to multiple inquiries about how it would approach Mr. Romney’s candidacy.
“I have two questions for Mitt”.
Herbert added, “I appreciate the fact that since 2013, he’s called Utah home”.
Anderson also said that Romney reached out to him in regards to his comments and “accepted my apology without hesitation”.
Romney s presidential run in 2012 suffered a major blow when the wealthy business leader was covertly recorded telling a private reception that 47 percent of Americans were “dependent on the government, who believe they are victims” and would vote for the Democrat Barack Obama no matter what.
In 2016 he positioned himself as the voice of mainstream conservatism with stinging attacks on Mr Trump. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on January 2 that she had not talked with the president about potentially backing Romney, but that Trump “is very sad to see Senator Hatch leave”.
“If you give me this opportunity, I will owe the Senate seat to no one but the people of Utah”.
Later, Romney dropped by a campaign volunteer booth set up at Utah Valley University in Orem, where he shook hands and posed for pictures with a mob of excited college students he asked to sign his candidate nominating petition.
Former aides to the former GOP presidential standard-bearer don’t expect the bitterness to subside immediately if Romney becomes a senator. Later, on Friday, he is scheduled to speak at a Republican Party dinner in Provo, Utah.
While a former MA governor, Romney has deep ties to Utah.
Romney will continue to call out the president’s behavior when he feels compelled to, advisers say-as he did in the wake of Charlottesville-but he won’t be piling on after every outlandish early-morning Tweet.
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“Were he to enter the Senate, he would not be a typical freshman senator”, said Utah Gov. Gary Richard Herbert, a Republican.
