Mitt Romney reportedly told a close friend he is running to be Utah's next senator

 President-elect Donald Trump and Mitt Romney dine together.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Rumors of a possible Utah Senate run by Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee, have been swirling for some time, particularly since Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) announced his retirement at the beginning of January. A Sunday New York Times report says Romney has privately confirmed he will run to replace Hatch in this year's midterm elections.

Romney reportedly texted "I'm running" to Kem Gardner, a close friend, who read the text to Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) over the phone on Saturday, Jan. 6. It would almost certainly be a successful campaign, for in Utah, the Times story notes, Romney is "beloved" as "the savior of the Salt Lake Winter Olympics and Mormon royalty."

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.