Mitt Romney not seeking reelection to the Senate: 'Time for a new generation'

Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney will not seek reelection in 2024, he announced Wednesday -- marking the potential end to a storied conservative career that had in recent years put him in conflict with his party's standard-bearer, Donald Trump.

In a video statement, Romney touted his role in major pieces of bipartisan legislation on issues including infrastructure, guns and COVID-19 relief but said it was time for a "new generation" to take the reins -- both on Capitol Hill and in the White House, accusing President Joe Biden, 80, and former President Trump, 77, of not doing enough to address America's challenges.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, was elected to the Senate in 2018 and will leave Washington in January 2025.

"I have spent my last 25 years in public service of one kind or another. At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-eighties," he said in his recorded statement. "Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders. They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in."

"We face critical challenges -- mounting national debt, climate change and the ambitious authoritarians of Russia and China. Neither President Biden nor former President Trump are leading their party to confront them," Romney added. "Political motivations too often impede the solutions that these challenges demand."

Still, Romney insisted he wouldn't entirely leave politics, noting that his Senate term lasts for over another year and hinting he'd remain involved beyond his departure.

"While I'm not running for reelection, I’m not retiring from the fight. I'll be your United States senator until January 2025. I will keep working on these and other issues and I will advance our state’s numerous priorities. I look forward to working with you and with folks across our state and nation in that endeavor," he said, speaking to Utahans.

Roney's announcement caps months of speculation over whether he would seek a second term in the Senate.

He was one of the GOP's few high-level officeholders to consistently criticize Trump, ultimately voting to convict Trump in each of his impeachment trials -- attacks that fueled both discussion over Romney's place in a party reshaped in Trump's image and questions over whether he would even be able to win a primary in another campaign.

Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs is the only Republican officially in the 2024 Utah Senate GOP primary race so far, but state House Speaker Brad Wilson has launched an exploratory committee and former Rep. Jason Chaffetz is weighing a campaign, too.

Wilson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on if Romney's announcement impacted his calculus, while Chaffetz said in a text message to ABC News that Romney's retirement would not change his decision-making.

Romney's camp, meanwhile, has swatted away worries over his vulnerability in a primary, citing local polling suggesting he would have been able to run a muscular campaign.

"He made his decision from a position of strength and on his own terms," Romney spokesperson Liz Johnson said on Wednesday.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Romney admitted his Trump criticism had left him somewhat adrift in the Republican Party and that while he would like to see another candidate win the party's 2024 presidential nomination besides Trump, he suggested his endorsement wouldn't serve to help any candidate.

"I'm not looking to get involved in that," he said.

While it's unclear what his post-Senate political involvement will look like, Romney insisted to the Post that he won't run for president on the No Labels third-party ticket that is forming, warning it could spoil Biden's campaign for reelection.

"I lobby continuously that it would only elect Trump," he said.

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