Mitt Romney 2024? Utah senator says 'likely' will be in office for more than one term

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah freshman Sen. Mitt Romney is making it clear he expects to serve more than one term in the Senate.

"If I get everything done in one term, well, I'll probably not be looking for another term," Romney told Politico in a story posted Friday. "But it's very unlikely. So it's far more likely that I'll be here more than one term given the agenda that I have."

His office declined to comment further.

Romney, 72, a former Massachusetts governor and the GOP's 2012 presidential nominee, had little trouble last year winning a six-year term serving in the seat vacated by Orrin Hatch after 42 years in office.

Considered one of Utah's most popular politicians after leading the successful 2002 Winter Olympics, Romney was forced into a primary by state GOP delegates against a former state senator, Mike Kennedy.

But Romney easily beat Kennedy in the primary election, 73 percent to 27 percent, and went on to defeat the Democrat in the race, Jenny Wilson, now the Salt Lake County mayor, with nearly 63 percent of the vote.

His comments about another run are part of a larger story titled, "Inside Romney's Trump strategy," about how Romney is handling his fellow Republican in the White House, a man he labeled a fraud and a phony during the 2016 presidential race.

As Romney has said many times before, he told the online political news source that he'll go along with President Donald Trump when they agree on issues and speak out against his actions when necessary.

"He's by and large followed the Republican playbook. So I'll be with him," Romney told Politico. "The places where I'm not with him from time to time will be matters of conduct or communication that I think are highly divisive or misogynistic or anti-immigrant."

He added that in those situations, "I think it's important for my own personal integrity to stand up and say, 'No, I disagree with that.'" Romney also said that probably won't influence Trump's thinking.

Talk of another run for the Senate is described in the story as "a rebuttal to those in the Capitol who privately wonder if he's on some sort of a six-year kamikaze mission against Trump."

Recently, Romney made news by saying he wasn't ready to endorse a second term for Trump.

"I have not made any decision on that front, so we'll wait. This is way too early for that," Romney said during an interview in May with CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."