Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is considering running for Senate in 2018, according to a report published Thursday by the Atlantic.
Romney discussed the possibility of a run for Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) seat with high-level Republicans in Washington and Utah, according to the report, which cited six unnamed sources familiar with the situation.
In an interview last week with the National Journal, Hatch said that he would consider retiring if Romney ran for his seat.
“If I could get a really outstanding person to run for my position, I might very well consider it,” he said. “Mitt Romney would be perfect.”
Orrin Hatch tells @arogDC he might be willing to retire … if he could hand his seat to Mitt Romney. ($$) https://t.co/sG5lZmnd3R pic.twitter.com/9XL8p0MLVf
— Ben Pershing (@benpershing) March 29, 2017
Romney last made a bid for government office in December 2016, when he was under consideration by then President-elect Donald Trump for secretary of state.
During the presidential campaign, Romney called Trump a “fraud” and a “phony.”
He reportedly refused to apologize for those remarks to Trump, who in 2016 claimed that Romney “would’ve dropped to his knees” for Trump’s endorsement in the previous election.
Trump reportedly began to look elsewhere after Romney refused to back down, and ultimately nominated Rex Tillerson to the post.