Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) has announced that he will not seek a second term in the Senate.
The 2012 Republican presidential nominee made his announcement on Sept. 13, citing a desire to allow a new generation to “step up” and “shape the world they’re going to live in.”
The Utah Republican, 76, pointed out that a second term would take him into his 80s and would likely be less productive and less gratifying than the current term.
“I have spent my last 25 years in public service of one kind or another. At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-eighties. Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders, Mr. Romney said in an announcement posted to X, formerly Twitter. “They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in.”
He also attributed his decision to his personal mistrust of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump’s leadership as well as the chaos he sees among House Republicans.
“It’s very difficult for the House to operate, from what I can tell,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post prior to his formal announcement. “And perhaps more importantly, we’re probably going to have either Trump or Biden as our next president. And Biden is unable to lead on important matters, and Trump is unwilling to lead on important matters.”
In 2020, Mr. Romney made history when he voted to impeach and convict a president from his own party. He was one of just seven Republicans to vote to convict President Trump in the second round of impeachment, and he was the only Republican to vote against President Trump in the first round. In both instances, the Senate voted against convicting the former president.
Months after his vote in the second impeachment trial, Mr. Romney was booed by a gathering of the most active members of the Utah Republican Party, and a move to punish him narrowly failed. On the campaign trail for the midterm elections of 2022, members of the party hurled the label “Mitt Romney Republican” at their rivals.
Mr. Romney, who was elected to the Senate in 2018 with 63 percent of the vote, said he will finish his term, which ends in January 2025.
“While I’m not running for re-election, I’m not retiring from the fight,” Mr. Romney said. “I’ll be your United States senator until January of 2025. I will keep working on these and other issues, and I’ll advance our state’s numerous priorities. I look forward to working with you and with folks across our state and nation in that endeavor.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times
