(RoyalPatriot.com )- Utah’s freshman Senator Mitt Romney said recently that he isn’t sure if he will seek a second term in the US Senate.
In an interview with The Hill after voting to confirm Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, Romney said he hasn’t given a lot of thought about running for re-election when his Senate term ends in 2024, saying “I’m going to cross that bridge down the road.”
Romney was elected in 2018 and has since gone out of his way to alienate the Republican base. He voted to convict then-President Donald Trump in both Senate impeachment trials.
Romney also helped craft the so-called “bipartisan” $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending bill President Biden signed into law last year. Less than half of the spending goes to actual infrastructure.
He was one of three Republicans to break ranks and vote for Jackson’s confirmation.
And to date, Romney has refused to endorse his Utah colleague conservative Senator Mike Lee’s reelection campaign in this year’s midterms.
While it is true that Romney maintains a 51 percent approval rating among Utah voters, he has lost favor with some Republican Party officials in the state.
Although Romney’s re-election is still over two years away, he already has possible primary opponents poised to challenge him.
Utah’s Attorney General Sean Reyes, a popular Republican in the state, has indicated that he may launch a Senate primary challenge against Romney in 2024. Former Congressman Jason Chaffetz is also considering jumping into the race.
Brigham Young University political science professor Richard Davis told the Hill he thinks these early challengers may be the reason Romney is hesitant to say if he will run again. Davis said if Romney decides to go for a second term in the Senate, “he will have a tough race.”
According to The Hill, Romney’s vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson and his continued opposition to Trump, who won Utah by more than 20 points in 2020, could make it difficult for Romney to secure the Senate nomination at the Utah GOP convention. If that happens, Romney’s only option would be to collect the necessary number of signatures to get his name on the ballot during the 2024 Utah Republican primary.
