Ex-adviser thinks Romney will run for Senate

A former senior adviser to Mitt Romney said Tuesday that he believes the former GOP presidential candidate will launch a Senate bid in Utah, fueling speculation that he could vie to replace Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) this year. 

In an interview on CNN’s “New Day,” the adviser, Kevin Madden, conceded that he did not have any “inside information” on Romney’s plans, but noted that if the former Massachusetts governor wanted to dispel rumors of his candidacy, he would have done so.

Asked if Romney is running for the Senate seat, Madden replied: “I think he very much is.”

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“I do think that if a rumor like this got out and Mitt Romney wanted to stop it, he could have,” Madden said. “And so far, since he hasn’t, I think he’s leaning toward running.”

Madden’s comments came after The New York Times reported on Sunday that Romney had sent a text message to a friend confirming that he is, in fact, planning to run for the Senate seat.

Hatch, the longest-serving Republican currently in the Senate, announced earlier this month that he would step down from the seat he has held since 1977. 

That announcement spurred immediate chatter that Romney could run for the seat. If he entered the race and won, it would install one of President Trump’s most vocal Republican critics in a Senate in which Republicans hold a narrow majority.