Some Senate Republicans, looking for a balance to President Donald Trump, are eager for Mitt Romney to take the seat of retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, The Hill is reporting.
A number of Republican lawmakers in the Senate are concerned about Trump, whose approval ratings have been around 35 percent in some polls, according to the website. Despite supporting his political agenda, they fear he could damage the party's future prospects, The Hill added.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and one-time GOP presidential nominee, told a friend in Utah he has decided to run for Hatch's seat, The New York Times reported.
However, he has not publicly announced his candidacy.
Retiring Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., an outspoken Trump critic, has spoken to Romney and pushed him to run, The Hill noted. He claimed Romney would "offer a different vision, a more traditional Republican vision" if elected.
And he said Romney would offer an "independent voice in the (GOP) caucus."
One Republican strategist agreed, saying: "We need respected voices who actually care about things like fidelity and decency and family and live their life according to their values. We're a little short on that at the moment."
Another Republican senator who has urged Romney to run for the Utah seat, predicted that he would have a leading role in the caucus.
"He doesn't take orders from anybody," the senator said. "He comes with some real credibility."
The Hill pointed out Romney was seen as one of Trump's strongest GOP critics during the presidential election.
Now, those Republican senators, who have spoken with Romney, expect him to officially announce his candidacy for the Senate seat in the next several weeks.
And Flake added: "If I were a betting man, I'd bet my house on it."
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