Utah Senator Mitt Romney Announces He Won’t Run for Re-Election
Jose Nino
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On September 13, 2023, Utah Senator Mitt Romney announced that he will not be running for re-election in the United States Senate. He argued that his age and the need for new blood in the political arena were the principal reasons for making this decision.
“I’m a little long in the tooth already. We don’t need more like me,” he said during a press conference on September 13. “The issues of the day relate to China, climate change, A.I. And a lot of the guys in their 80s don’t know how to deal with those issues.”
Romney is currently 76 years old. The Utah Senator’s exit from politics is representative of the ideological shift the Republican Party has been going through in the last decade. A once pro-business, pro-mass migration, and pro-war party has now gradually transitioned towards America First nationalism that is more focused on immigration restriction, a restrained foreign policy, and protectionism.
Romney told reporters that the strain of conservatism he follows has fallen out of favor in recent years but predicts that it will ultimately make a comeback.
“There’s no question but the Republican Party today is in the shadow of Donald Trump,” Romney stated, which he described as the populist, demagogue wing. “I represent a small wing of the party…I think ultimately, we’ll see a resurgence.”
Former President Donald Trump posted the following on social media in response to Romney’s retirement announcement: “Fantastic news for America, the great state of Utah, & for the Republican Party.”
Romney asserted that he would have won his re-election bid. However, political experts believe he would have faced stiff challengers in the GOP primary.
With Romney stepping out of the political picture, the outgoing Utah Senator has even called on Trump and Biden to hang up the political gloves.
“I think it would be a great thing if President Biden and former President Trump were to stand aside and let the respective party pick someone in the next generation,” he said to reporters.
Towards the end of his career Romney earned the dubious distinction of voting twice to convict former President Trump in the Senate on House impeachment charges— being the only Republican elected official to do so — a move that angered many grassroots conservatives voters in Utah.
“The people in Utah don’t all agree with me on the posture I took with regards to Donald Trump, but they respect people who vote their conscience and I appreciate that in my fellow citizens,” he said to reporters.
Romney previously served as governor of Massachusetts and received the GOP presidential nomination 2012 prior to being defeated by Democratic President Barack Obama in the general election.
With Romney out of the picture, the GOP can actually move forward as a political party. Romney is an avatar of the GOP yesteryear that was fanatically committed to open borders, never-ending wars, and kowtowing to Big Business. Hopefully, more Republicans like Romney exit politics.
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