Mitt Romney Won’t Run for President in 2016

Mitt Romney closed the door Friday on another White House run, clearing the field of a formidable name and triggering a dash to woo his donors.

The 67-year-old former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee announced his decision on a Friday morning conference call with supporters, donors and advisers from past campaigns. “I’ve decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee,” he said on the call.

Mr. Romney’s decision ends a turbulent, early chapter of the 2016 presidential campaign, one that kept even his closest advisers guessing. After previously saying he wouldn’t run again for the White House, Mr. Romney scrambled the GOP nominating contest just three weeks ago by telling a group of donors he was considering another bid.

By standing down, Mr. Romney removes a major impediment to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and other likely GOP candidates who are courting the centrist, big-dollar donors who had backed Mr. Romney in 2012 and whose financial support can help a candidate build momentum.

“Today’s news certainly does reopen the fight for donors,” said Matt Moore, chairman of the South Carolina GOP. “Many donors had been frozen in recent weeks, taking a wait-and-see approach. There’s a finite amount of money that can be raised, so every candidate benefits.”

On the call Friday with supporters, Mr. Romney gave few clues about what drove him to abandon a third White House bid after sending every signal he would run. He repeatedly told those on the call he was “convinced” he would win the nomination if he sought it.

“Mitt struggled with the decision,” said Eric Fehrnstrom, a longtime Romney adviser who was involved in the planning behind what would have been a third presidential campaign. “He felt it was time to let the mantle of leadership pass to others in the Republican Party.”

In announcing his intent not to run, Mr. Romney also sought to quash speculation that he might reconsider his plans as the race played out, saying it was “unlikely’’ that any new circumstance would prompt him to change his mind.

“Accordingly, I’m not organizing a PAC or taking donations. I’m not hiring a campaign team,” he said on the call.

The announcement Friday came as a surprise to many Romney supporters who had spoken with him in recent weeks. He sounded every bit the candidate on Wednesday during a speech at Mississippi State University, leveling criticism at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination.

On the call Friday, Mr. Romney seemed to take a veiled swipe at Mr. Bush, saying, “One of our next generation of Republican leaders, one who may not be as well known as I am today…one who is just getting started, may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee.”

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio , who at age 43 is one of the youngest Republicans considering a White House campaign, said in a statement Friday that he respected Mr. Romney’s “decision to give the next generation a chance to lead.”

Mr. Bush released a statement shortly after the announcement hailing Mr. Romney as “a patriot” who has worked hard for the GOP.

Mr. Romney’s short-lived flirtation with the 2016 race had stirred mixed emotions among fellow Republicans.

His unexpected interest in the race prompted some in his party to argue the GOP needs a fresh face in 2016. Democrats, meanwhile, delighted in the prospect of a rematch with the man they beat in 2012.

“I think he made the right call,” said Pat Mullins, who recently stepped down as chairman of the Virginia Republican Party. “He is popular, and I think it would be a discredit to him to not get the nomination.”

At the same time, Mr. Romney led most polls of the emerging GOP field. In a Fox News survey released Friday, he was the top pick of 21% of self-identified Republicans. That gave him a substantial edge over Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee , both at 11%, and Mr. Bush, at 10%.

The announcement caps a frenzied three weeks for Mr. Romney and his close-knit team of advisers, many of whom were caught off guard when he first expressed interest in the race during a meeting with donors three weeks ago in New York. Republicans had been prodding Mr. Romney to run for months, but it wasn’t until that session that even his closest advisers knew he was truly interested.

Mr. Romney and his advisers spent the intervening period calling donors, aides and other supporters of his past campaigns to gauge their support for another bid.

Last Sunday night, a small team of trusted former aides organized a call with Mr. Romney to tell him that, if he really wanted to run, he should establish a political committee of some kind in the next week or so to let donors and grass-roots supporters know he was serious, according to a person familiar with the call.

Mr. Romney was noncommittal on that call but added events to his itinerary during his Wednesday visit to Mississippi to give it the feel of a presidential campaign trip, including lunch with the school’s football coach, Dan Mullen.

Mitt Romney speaks at Mississippi State University on Wednesday. Photo: Associated Press

Then Thursday night, a day after his speech, he called his closest advisers to tell them he wasn’t going to run. He said he and his wife, Ann, made the decision last weekend but wanted to sit with it for a week before making his intentions public.

The announcement sparked an immediate push by other Republicans to lock up Romney donors who were waiting for him to make a decision before committing to other candidates. Allies of several likely contenders said their favored candidate stood to benefit from Mr. Romney’s departure.

“The biggest beneficiary of Mitt’s decision is Gov. Bush and his fundraising effort,” said Al Cardenas, a Bush supporter and former chairman of the Florida Republican Party. “If you ask me who is getting the most calls today from the donor community, it will be Jeb, by far.”

Ray Washburne, who recently left his post as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee to help Mr. Christie, said he received a flood of phone calls from donors interested in backing the New Jersey governor.

“I’ve been on the phones since 7 o’clock this morning with donors who want to be on the Chris team early,” Mr. Washburne said. “There are a lot of people who hit the pause button. Now, they are making decisions.”

Messrs. Romney and Christie were scheduled to dine together Friday night in New York City, said a person familiar with the matter, stirring speculation that Mr. Romney could back the New Jersey governor.

Mr. Christie campaigned for Mr. Romney in 2012, and the two are thought to be friends. An endorsement from Mr. Romney could push his donors in Mr. Christie’s direction.

In trying to rebuild his campaign network in recent weeks, Mr. Romney was finding a competitive environment. Jonathan Burkan, a Romney donor from 2012, made it clear to the Romney team he would be supporting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, saying Mr. Romney faced a much steeper climb to the nomination in 2016 than in his prior race.

“He realized that the field is much, much stronger,” Mr. Burkan said. “There was absolutely no path to winning against such strong support.”

Despite aggressive efforts by Mr. Romney’s finance team to secure commitments of financial support, many of his top donors didn’t rush to back him again this time.

“I have not heard a groundswell of support for Romney in the city when I thought he was running,” said Kathryn Wylde , chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, a group whose board consists of top business leaders. “There’s been substantially more support for Bush and Christie than for Romney this time around.”

A third White House bid could have given Mr. Romney and his team the chance to correct past mistakes, primarily the perception that he was an out-of-touch patrician who didn’t care about people lower on the income rungs. In a pair of speeches earlier this month, Mr. Romney signaled that he would champion policies aimed at spurring upward mobility and helping lead people out of long-term poverty. He also prodded the party to improve its outreach to minority communities, who largely shunned Mr. Romney in 2012.

Mr. Romney was criticized by many during his 2012 bid for creating the impression that he cared more about wealthier Americans than those struggling in a tepid economy, an image he helped cement that image with his comment that it wasn’t his “job” to worry about the “47%” of Americans who receive government benefits.

The decision left some of his most ardent supporters chagrined. “Bummer,” Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz wrote on Twitter. “Mitt would have been one of the best presidents ever.”

source