Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, 76, will not seek reelection, calls for a new generation of leaders

WASHINGTON − Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, who ran for president in 2012, will not be running for reelection when his Senate term ends in January 2025, he said Wednesday.

In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, the 76-year-old said he will be in his mid-80s if he is elected to a second term and emphasized the need for a new generation of leaders.

"They are the ones who need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in," he said.

Romney was elected to the Senate in 2018 and is serving his first term. He said Wednesday that neither President Joe Biden nor former President Donald Trump are leading their parties to confront issues facing the country.

"Political motivations too often impede the solutions that these challenges demand," he said in the video. "The next generation of leaders must take America to the next stage of global leadership."

Romney said he's not retiring early and will serve out the remainder of his term.

At a press conference in his office Wednesday, the lawmaker said he does not imagine the GOP will move on from Trump in the near future, but the party will see leadership changes "over the next decade or so."

"The Senate has been fortunate to call our friend from Utah a colleague these past four and a half years, and I am sorry to learn that he will depart our ranks at the end of next year," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement following Romney's announcement.

Romney has been an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump and was the only Republican to vote to convict the former president in his 2020 impeachment trial. He was one of several Republican senators who voted in favor of impeachment during the second trial following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Trump, Romney conceded at the press conference, remains the de-facto leader of the Republican Party, but he said he expects his party to move on from the former president in the future.

"There's no question the Republican Party today is in the shadow of Donald Trump. He is the leader of the greatest portion of the Republican Party," Romney said. "I represent a small wing of the Republican Party. If you will, I call it the wise wing of the Republican Party and I don't believe we're going away."

"I believe we'll see a resurgence and come back in the leadership of the party," he added.

When asked about his legacy by USA TODAY in 2019 shortly after being elected, Romney said he is focused on doing what he feels is right.

"I'm not going to worry so much about, about the political consequence, or praise or lack thereof," he said. "And I hope that my kids down the road will say 'Yeah, you know our dad, our grandfather our great-grandfather was a person of integrity and honored his oath of office.'"

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, 76, will not seek reelection in 2025