Romney running for Senate in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — Former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney will announce Thursday that he’s running for the Utah Senate seat held by the retiring Orrin Hatch, three people with direct knowledge of the plan confirmed Wednesday.

He’ll be a heavy favorite to keep the seat in Republican hands, as he isn’t expected to face any serious challenges for it.

The 70-year-old Romney, once a harsh critic of President Donald Trump, will release an online video Thursday announcing his Senate bid. His first public appearance as a Senate candidate will come Friday night at a county Republican dinner in Provo.

Those with knowledge of his plans spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Despite a drama-filled history with Trump, Romney is not expected to address the combative president directly in the announcement video. Those close to him say he plans a hyperlocal focus on Utah issues throughout the campaign.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and a Mormon, is widely liked and respected in Utah, which is heavily Mormon. He moved there after losing the 2012 presidential election. That was a decade after he helped turn around the scandalplagued 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

During the 2016 presidential election, Romney called Trump “a phony” who was “playing the American public for suckers” and was unfit to be president. He softened his stance after Trump won the presidency and put himself forward as a candidate for secretary of state. But he resumed his criticism last year.