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By Rosemary Pollock
Romney Doubts Run for Massachusetts Governor
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- With only a year to go before the 2002 Winter
Games in Salt Lake City, SLOC President, Mitt Romney, is fielding
questions about a possible 2002 run for governor of Massachusetts.
Newsweek named Romney "the GOP's top contender." John Brockelman,
executive director of the Massachusetts Republican Party said,
"Certainly we Republicans in Massachusetts would love to have Mitt
Romney back here and run for any office he chooses."
"I don't think so," Romney told the Boston Harold in a recent
interview. "You never know, but I just don't think so. I really
don't think so."
Romney, 53, the son of former presidential candidate and Michigan
Gov. George Romney, ran against Sen. Ted Kennedy in 1994. Romney will
not have to turn in the required 10,000 signatures needed to file his
gubernatorial candidacy until May 7, 2002. His name could be
certified on the ballot for the June 4, 2002 elections. Romney is
likely to stay with the SLOC through the Paralympics which follow
the regular Winter Games and runs through March 7-16, 2002. It would
leave Romney with only one month to get his campaign up and running.
The Republican landscape is changing in Massachusetts. GOP Gov. Paul
Cellucci is resigning to become Bush's ambassador to Canada and Lt.
Gov. Jane Swift is expecting twins in June. "She has a lot to worry
about," Romney told the Deseret News. "She's got twins on the way.
She has a big Democratic state Legislature to deal with, and she's
going to have a lot of Democratic opponents."
Currently, Romney has not hired any political consultants and there
is no organized push for his possible candidacy. Romney has never
given up his Massachusetts residency. His wife, Ann, lives most of
the time at their Belmont home, and he regularly flies back for brief
stays. Last October, Romney told Boston Magazine reporter Jon Keller,
"I intend to return, and I will carefully study the political
landscape."
Source:
Governor? I don't think so, Mitt says
Deseret News 11Mar01 T2
By Bob Bernick Jr. and Lisa Riley Roche: Deseret News staff writers
But he's GOP's top contender in Massachusetts
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