Mitt Romney won’t be running for public office again after the shellacking he took in the 2012 presidential race. But that doesn’t mean his family is through with politics, too.
Romney’s niece, Ronna Romney McDaniel, is considering a Senate run in Michigan, making her the fourth member of the extended Romney family to be connected to a congressional race since the 2012 election.
"It's something I'm going to consider (after) what I saw around the state with how frustrated people were with what's happening in D.C.," Romney McDaniel told The Detroit News. "Maybe this is a time where we can bring a new voice and get a Republican senator from our state."
Romney McDaniel’s announcement came after her father Scott, Mitt’s older brother, initially flirted with a run to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Carl Levin. He eventually opted against it and urged his daughter to run instead. It wouldn’t be unprecedented for her; her mother and grandmother both unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in Michigan.
She joins other Romneys floated as possible congressional candidates, including Mitt’s son, Tagg Romney, who considered a Massachusetts Senate bid before passing on the race to fill John Kerry’s seat. Mitt’s wife, Ann, had also been touted as a potential candidate by the Boston Herald, but she later told FOX News that she never was interested.
So who is the Romney with the best chance of winning political office? Look to Josh Romney, one of Mitt’s five sons. Utah party leaders talked to him in 2008 about challenging Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, and he later eyed the lieutenant governor position. Unlike Massachusetts, the thoroughly red state would be very welcoming to a Romney political foray; Mitt Romney won Utah by nearly 48 points, the widest margin in the country.
This article appears in the March 14, 2013, edition of National Journal Daily.
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