In his announcement that he will not seek a second term, Senator Mitt Romney stressed the need for a new generation of leadership in the United States
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On Wednesday, Senator Mitt Romney announced He will not run for his re -election in 2024. On the surface, the electoral impact of a Romney decision is small – his seat must remain safe in the hands of Republicans. But this is still noticeable because it represents the departure of one of the few Republican Senate members who obtained a moderate vote record and/or former President Donald Trump.
The Senate, of course, was a second profession (or, in fact, the third) for Romney. After a successful profession in the business during which he participated in the founding of Bain Capital, Romney, the governor of Massachusetts, was elected in 2002-part of the long love relationship in Bay State with moderate Republican rulers. He nominated the president twice and won the Republican nomination in 2012, lost to President Barack Obama at the time General elections.
That was the last time the Republican Party chose a presidential candidate not Trump. Since 2016, Republican voters have turned against the Republic of Republic alignment in Romney and embraced Trump’s explosive popularity. In 2018, the year that witnessed large numbers of moderate or anti-Trump Republicans leaving Congress, Romney collected the general direction by electing the Senate from Utah (where a large number of members of the Church of Jesus Christ made the last days-including Romney himself-in that The local Republican Party is more than Trump From more). Since then, he has I spoke loudly Against the new direction of the party. The most prominent, he is Voice to condemn Trump in Each of the dismissal trials.
Romney also developed a moderate record of the vote, which broke with the right wing of his party in the votes that ranged between them Judge Kitanji Brown Jackson confirm to Remoance of Trump’s emergency advertisement To finance the border wall. DW-Nominate degree -A measure of ideology -based ideology, as it represents the most conservative 1 and -1 represents the most liberal -it is 0.288, which makes it more moderate than all current Republican Senators with the exception of three.
Both groups of Republicans – Trump opponents and ideological moderates – are now threatened with extinction species, and Romney’s departure will increase the herd. Among the 17 Republicans who voted to isolate or condemn Trump in any of his factors, only six in Congress, including Romney. The number of Republicans in the Senate who hold DW-Nominate is less than 0.300 is at the lowest point in at least 40 years.
Romney’s record of combating Trump and Middle have contributed indirectly to his retirement, because he made him relatively popular with Republican voters in Utah. According to 7-14 August Written by Dan Jones & Associats, only 56 percent of Republican voters registered in Utah agreed to Romney’s career performance. This may not seem very bad, but among your party members, 56 percent is a very medium approval classification. (In contrast, 81 percent of Republican registered voters have a positive opinion in Trump, according to the latest survey of Coinibiac University))
It is very similar to a prominent Trump critic Former Senator Jeff Felk in 2018Perhaps Romney refused to run for his re -election because he was afraid to lose in the Republican preliminary elections. The same poll asked a virtual virtual match, and Romney won 45 percent support among Republicans. This anemia is largely, used to promote repetition.
On the other hand, no other candidate in the survey obtained more than 7 percent, and only 27 percent said that they would vote for another candidate whose name was not revealed. Moreover, the poll found that Romney’s approval between Republicans was high; In May, only 40 percent approved his performance. So Romney’s path to repetition may be more clear today than it was for a while, which makes the timing of the advertisement curious. So we may take Romney in his speech when he cited his age as a worker in his retirement video. (Romney is 76 years old and was 83 at the end of the second semester.)
So what is the next for Utah Chapter One Senate seat? Romney’s retirement is unlikely to lead to competitive general elections in the next fall: Although Utah has turned towards the Democrats in the Trump era, it is still sufficiently red so that it voted in its favor with more than 20 percentage points in 2020 Since 1996. (True, Ivan McMolin, an independent anti -Trump, lost to Republican Senator Mike Lee in 2022 by 10.4 points after that Democrats stood aside and did not nominate anyone In order to give a better shot to win. However, on the other hand, the independent anti -Trump McClelin, the anti -Trump, is still in front of the Republican Senator Mike Lee in 2022 by 10.4 points even after the Democrats stood aside and did not nominate anyone in order to give McCmulin a better shot in winning!)
So the competition for viewing will be the preliminary elections for the state on June 25-specifically, whether the party’s candidate will be more conservative and/or in support of Romney. So far, it seems that the answer is yes; The field of potential candidates and candidates lacks someone like symbols like Romney. The head of the State Council, Brad Wilson, who has already formed an exploratory committee, presents himself as “Conservative hero“In 2020 it is Make a legislative decision Honoring Trump after his first isolation. However, it may be The most acceptable option for Republicans in the old school; A second candidate, the mayor of Riverton Trent Stags, Romney attacked To support him for “Wokeness” and to dismiss Trump. The Utah Sean Reyes Prosecutor, who served as the co -chair of the Trump re -election campaign in the state and I tried to cancel the results From the 2020 elections, A rumor candidate as well.
But there is still time for the Romney-ISC candidate to jump. Utah still has a good number of Republicans skeptical in Trump-for example, the former state deputy, Becky Edwards, a vote Republic of President Biden and a loss in the special elementary elections in the second Utah region. One can arise from the Senate’s introductory elections if the conservative/pro -Trump vote is divided between many candidates. But of course, there is no alternative to recognizing the name of Romney or a financial advantage. So there is no doubt that his retirement is a bowel punch for Republicans who do not like what is happening to their party.