Mitt Romney continues to move toward a third run for President in 2016.
Since telling a group of donors at a closed fundraiser last week that he would considering running for president for a third time, Romney has contacted a number of prominent Republican lawmakers, according to The Washington Post, including Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).
Ryan, Romney’s pick for vice president during the 2012 campaign, said on Monday that he wouldn’t run for president in 2016. Ryan, according to the Post, was “encouraging” about Romney’s plans.
A “senior Republican” also told the Post that Romney “almost certainly will” run for president in 2016.
Romney has also recently reached out to Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Rob Portman (R-OH), former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in New Hampshire, and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the Post reported. He’s also had lunch with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham.
Beyond reaching out to lawmakers Romney has also reportedly managed to get the backing of a pair of his former New Hampshire-based advisers: Jim Merrill and Thomas D. Roth.
Both former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) have signaled interest in running for president in 2016 and inhabit the same area of the GOP as Romney.
This post has been updated.
