For some time now, I’ve longed for the opportunity to donate money to a viable Republican challenger to Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). Between his votes to impeach Trump last year and his vote in favor of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, there’s pretty much nothing Romney could do to redeem himself in my eyes.
Romney seems to be aware of the fact that he’s ruined his political career with his votes and is now saying that he isn’t sure if he will seek reelection in 2024.
“I’m going to cross that bridge down the road,” Romney told The Hill. “I haven’t given a lot of attention yet.”
Romney faces a number of potential primary challengers, including state Attorney General Sean Reyes, and former Rep. Jason Chaffetz.
Related: Republican Turncoats Announce They’ll Vote to Confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson
“Either one of them would be a formidable opponent for Romney within the Republican Party because he has made himself persona non grata with many of the conservative Republicans,” said Richard Davis, a professor emeritus of political science at Brigham Young University. “He’s actually more popular with Democrats and independents than he is with Republicans right now. So getting past the Republican primary would be a tough one.”
I was so looking forward to donating money to any if not all of Romney’s primary challengers. And I say this as someone who voted for Romney when he ran for governor of Massachusetts and when he ran for president in 2012. Heck, I even supported his campaign for the U.S. Senate when others in the party were skeptical of him because of his moderate record. I rationalized that if Romney was a U.S. Senator for the state of Utah—one of the most conservative states in the country—he’d become more conservative.
Well, I was wrong. Good riddance to Mitt, however he decides to leave the Senate; be it by retirement or by getting ousted in a Republican primary, I won’t be sad to see him go.
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