Mitt Romney Willard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyTexas Democrats unveil 'path to victory' plan for 2020 Republicans grumble over Trump shifting military funds to wall Democrats walk tightrope in fight over Trump wall funds MORE says he is not ready to commit to endorsing President Trump Donald John TrumpNew working-age hires are mostly people of color for first time: analysis Kremlin: Reported US spy worked in Putin's office Trump's approval rating drops 6 points amid economic worries: poll MORE for reelection in 2020.

"I will make that decision down the road," Romney told CNN at the Utah GOP convention on Saturday. "As a person of political experience, if I endorse someone, I'll want to know what's in it for Utah and what help would he provide for us on key priorities in Utah."

"So I'm not a cheap date," he added.

The 2012 Republican presidential nominee is at the Utah convention to secure the party's nomination for Senate. Romney is running for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant HatchTrump to award racing legend Roger Penske with Presidential Medal of Freedom Trump awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to economist, former Reagan adviser Arthur Laffer Second ex-Senate staffer charged in aiding doxxing of GOP senators MORE (R).

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Romney and Trump have a contentious history.

The former Massachusetts governor gave a speech in the waning days of the GOP primary in 2016 urging Republicans not to support Trump, arguing that he lacked the character needed for the presidency.

Still, the two seemed to mend fences after the election when Trump dined with Romney and was reportedly considering him to lead the State Department, a position which was eventually filled by Rex Tillerson Rex Wayne TillersonFox's Cavuto roasts Trump over criticism of network Ex-sycophants highlight the void of competence around Trump Trump says No. 2 State Dept. official could become next Russia envoy MORE.

The relationship soured again though after he was passed up for the job. Romney criticized Trump for his response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va., last year and other actions. Trump also encouraged Hatch repeatedly to run for reelection.

Romney announced his campaign for Senate earlier this year, with Hatch's endorsement.

"I have decided to run for United States Senate because I believe I can help bring Utah's values and Utah's lessons to Washington. Utah is a better model for Washington than Washington is for Utah," he said in a February campaign ad.

"Given all that America faces, we feel that this is the right time to serve our state and our country."

Trump endorsed Romney in February in a tweet, saying that he would make a "great senator."</s>Mitt Romney won’t say whether he will support President Donald Trump for reelection in 2020.

The former Republican presidential nominee told reporters Saturday that he wants to see what the field of candidates looks like before making any commitment.

“In terms of what happens in 2020, we’re going to wait and see who runs,” he said backstage at the Utah Republican convention. “If I had to make that decision today, I’d be missing the opportunity to find out what they’re going to do for Utah.”

Romney is seeking Utah’s GOP nomination for Senate, but was forced into a primary race Saturday against state lawmaker Mike Kennedy.

He has said that he supports many of Trump’s policies but is also not afraid to criticize the president when necessary.

The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.</s>Mitt Romney said Saturday that he could not yet commit to supporting Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign, making it clear that he intends to stake his claim as an independent voice for Utah.

"I will make that decision down the road," Romney, who is running for US Senate, said in an interview with CNN as he waited for his turn to speak at the Utah GOP convention where he was vying for his party's nomination. "As a person of political experience, if I endorse someone, I'll want to know what's in it for Utah and what help would he provide for us on key priorities in Utah."

"So I'm not a cheap date," he said.

Romney said he assumed there would be Republican contenders who will challenge Trump, but underscored, "I also assume that President Trump will be the nominee of our party in 2020."

As he has campaigned across Utah, Romney has pointed out that he largely agrees with Trump on policy but takes issue with some of his harsh rhetoric.

But he was a fierce critic of Trump during the primary phase of the 2016 presidential race, calling him out as an imposter and criticizing his harsh tone on immigrants from Mexico, and criticizing Trump's crude comments about women.</s>WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (AP) — The Latest on the Utah Republican convention (all times local):

Mitt Romney won't say whether he will support President Donald Trump for reelection in 2020.

The former Republican presidential nominee told reporters Saturday that he wants to see what the field of candidates looks like before making any commitment.

"In terms of what happens in 2020, we're going to wait and see who runs," he said backstage at the Utah Republican convention. "If I had to make that decision today, I'd be missing the opportunity to find out what they're going to do for Utah."

Romney is seeking Utah's GOP nomination for Senate, but was forced into a primary race Saturday against state lawmaker Mike Kennedy.

He has said that he supports many of Trump's policies but is also not afraid to criticize the president when necessary.

U.S. Rep. John Curtis failed to secure his party's nomination for reelection at the state's GOP convention and must now head to a primary in June.

Neither Curtis nor former state lawmaker Chris Herrod won the 60 percent necessary to win the Republican nomination Saturday.

After two rounds of voting, Curtis won 58.75 percent of the vote, just 1.25 percentage points short of the threshold to grab the party's nomination.

They will now face off in a primary battle June 26.

The former Provo mayor entered office last year in a special election to replace Rep. Jason Chaffetz in Utah's 3rd Congressional District.

Whoever wins at the June primary will be the favorite in the largely Republican district at the general election in November.

U.S. Rep. Mia Love is coasting to the general election after she was formally nominated for reelection at Utah's Republican Party convention.

The two-term incumbent was unopposed at the convention in suburban Salt Lake City on Saturday. She now looks ahead to what is predicted to be a tight general election matchup in November against Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams. His nomination will be decided at a Democratic convention next weekend.

Their upcoming matchup in Utah's 4th Congressional District is the only race in the overwhelmingly Republican state expected to be competitive in the general election.

Love became the first black Republican woman in Congress when she won office in 2014. She was formerly the mayor of Saratoga Springs, 35 miles south of Salt Lake City.

U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart has held off a pair of opponents to win the Republican nomination and head smoothly into his reelection race in November.

The three-term lawmaker defeated a state party official and a businessman on Saturday at the state Republican convention.

Stewart will be the heavy favorite in the solidly Republican 2nd Congressional District. It covers Salt Lake City and a wide swath of the state's south and west. He last won reelection in 2016 by nearly 30 percentage points.

The former Air Force pilot, businessman and author is a member of the House Intelligence Committee. He has defended President Donald Trump against claims of Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election.

Stewart was first elected to Congress in 2012.

U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop held off a challenger at the state GOP convention and has been chosen as the Republican nominee as he pursues what he says will be his final term in office.

The eight-term lawmaker defeated a local businessman on Saturday at the state Republican convention. Bishop is chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee that makes policy decisions for the nation's federally controlled lands and energy production.

Bishop will be the overwhelming favorite in the general election in the solidly Republican 1st Congressional District. In 2016, he won reelection by 40 percentage points. He has been in office since 2002.

If he is reelected and Republicans retain their House majority, the next term would be his last as Natural Resources Committee chairman due to term limit rules.

The Utah Republican convention is being roiled by internal party quarrels that have delegates shouting and booing.

The rules disagreements Saturday come amid ongoing contention over a new law that allows candidates to bypass conventions on their way to the primary ballot by gathering signatures instead.

The debate among core party members lasted more than hour and delayed voting on nominees for races including U.S. Senate, where former presidential candidate Mitt Romney is a contender.

He is among the candidates who have opted to gather signatures, securing his place on the ballot. He's also seeking support from party delegates at the convention.

Supporters say signature-gathering helps more people get involved in the process, and it's been used by more-moderate candidates to win races even if they lose at convention.

Conservative critics say the measure undermines the state's caucus-and-convention system.

Michelle Cluff is hoping that Mitt Romney becomes Utah's next Republican Senate nominee.

The 31-year-old delegate from the Salt Lake City suburb of Riverton said during her party's state convention Saturday that a divisive "brawl" of a primary would break out if Romney lost to one of his lesser-known opponents.

"Policy-wise, there's very little distinguishing them," said the stay-at-home mother of three. She walked around the convention grounds in suburban Salt Lake City while pushing her four-month-old baby in a stroller. "And Mitt Romney can actually go in and make things happen."

"Romney is ready to hit the ground running," she said.

The former presidential nominee is facing off against nearly a dozen opponents in the race to replace retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch.

A rural Utah county commissioner who served jail time after leading an ATV protest ride challenging federal management of Western public lands has clinched the Republican nomination for a state legislature seat.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports Phil Lyman got the nod at the Utah GOP convention on Saturday in the race to replace firebrand Rep. Mike Noel.

Lyman became a cause celebre in the public-lands debate when he led ATV riders through a southern Utah canyon to protest federal land managers' decision to close the area in an effort to protect Native American cliff dwellings.

Lyman has said he hopes to continue Noel's advocacy for state control of federal public lands so rural southern Utah residents can ranch, log and mine.

One of the longest-serving senators in U.S. history has bid farewell to Utah Republican Party delegates after more than four decades in office.

Orrin Hatch gave brief remarks to the state Republican convention in suburban Salt Lake City Saturday, thanking the state that sent him to the Senate for 41 years.

His retirement comes none too soon for some party loyalists who feared that he might break a promise not to seek an eighth term.

Hatch steps down paving the way for former presidential contender Mitt Romney to take his place. Romney is Hatch's hand-picked successor.

Romney is looking to secure the GOP nomination for Senate later on Saturday.

Hatch did not offer any endorsement for Romney during his brief convention remarks.

Not everyone at Utah's Republican Party convention is eager to give Mitt Romney the party's nomination for Senate.

Marianne Henderson is wearing a T-shirt for State Rep. Mike Kennedy, a doctor who is challenging Romney on Saturday.

Romney represents "a different brand of Republicanism" says Henderson, who is a 57-year-old retiree and delegate from the town of Alpine 25 miles south of Salt Lake City.

She says that Kennedy is more fiscally conservative and holds "conservative principles."

Matthew Green takes issue with healthcare reforms Romney oversaw as governor of Massachusetts. He believes Romney is too willing to spend government money.

The 44-year-old doctor from the Provo suburb of Highland would also like to see Kennedy win the nomination. But he's prepared for Romney to win anyway, given his campaign's deep pockets and national name recognition.

Several core members of Utah's Republican Party are saying Mitt Romney would be a good senator for Utah as the former presidential candidate takes questions from a gathered crowd.

Retired accountant Max Collotzi said at the Utah GOP convention on Saturday that Romney's extensive resume would him a leg up on the job.

The 78-year-old from West Valley City says Romney's name recognition will help him in the state where he's a popular adopted son and the heavy favorite to win the race.

Nearby, a trio of women from Farmington say they're longtime Romney fans who are happy to support him again. Fifty-seven-year-old teacher Kim Klinker says he's honest and can get things done.

He's already secured a spot on the ballot by gathering signatures, but also seeking the support of party stalwarts who tend to lean far-right.

Utah Republican party members are gathering to decide if U.S. Senate hopeful Mitt Romney will be forced into a primary as they choose nominees for races ranging from Congress to state Legislature.

The group of several thousand core party members will talk with candidates Saturday at decked-out booths and listen to speeches.

Romney will face 11 other candidates, largely political newcomers who say he shouldn't get an automatic pass even in a state where he is a popular adopted son.

Meanwhile, Republican U.S. Reps. Rob Bishop, John Curtis and Chris Stewart are all facing off against challengers and looking to secure the path to re-election.

U.S. Rep. Mia Love is unopposed in seeking the nomination.</s>WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (AP) — Mitt Romney was forced into a Republican primary in his bid for U.S. Senate in Utah after losing a nomination battle Saturday at the state’s far-right-leaning GOP convention.

Romney remains the heavy favorite overall to replace long-serving Sen. Orrin Hatch in November and said he was ready to keep campaigning hard.

If he had won the party delegate vote at the convention, he would have bypassed a primary altogether. Instead, he was edged out by state lawmaker Mike Kennedy, who got 51 percent of the vote to Romney’s 49 percent.

GOP voters will decide between the two in a June 26 primary.

Romney previously secured his spot on the primary ballot by gathering 28,000 voter signatures but said Saturday that choice was partly to blame for his loss.

Gathering signatures to make the ballot is unpopular among many conservative delegates in the state who say it dilutes their ability to choose a candidate.

The issue prompted hours of debate, shouting and booing at the convention.

Romney, 71, went up against 11 other candidates at the convention, including one dressed as Abraham Lincoln, complete with vest and bow tie. Some candidates questioned Romney’s past criticism of President Donald Trump.

Romney pushed back against critics who said he’s an interloper in Utah politics by referring to his role in staging the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah.

“Some people I’ve spoken with have said this is a David vs. Goliath race, but they’re wrong,” Romney said in his speech. “I’m not Goliath. Washington, D.C., is Goliath.”

Kennedy, a doctor and lawyer, framed himself as an underdog taking on the “Romney machine.” At one point, he pitched in to sweep up tiny paper American flags that had been shot from a confetti cannon hours before.

Delegate Matt Murdoch, 28, said he voted for Kennedy because he’s a family doctor serving many of his neighbors in Alpine, south of Salt Lake City.

Stay-at-home mother Michelle Cluff said she liked Romney’s experience and believes he is ready to get to work as a senator.

Romney was governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. While in office he signed legislation that greatly expanded access to health care through state-level subsidies and individual mandates to purchase insurance, much like Obamacare.

Romney asked for delegates’ votes after spending two months on the campaign trail visiting dairy farms, taking selfies with college students and making stump speeches in small towns.

After his failed 2012 presidential campaign, he moved to Utah, where he gained popularity after running as the first Mormon presidential nominee of a major political party.

He’s worked to keep the focus on state issues rather than his history of well-documented feuds with Trump, whom he called a “con-man” and a phony during the 2016 race. Trump fired back that Romney “choked like a dog” during his own White House run.

The two men have shown signs of making peace, and Romney has accepted Trump’s endorsement for Senate. But Romney said Saturday he hasn’t decided whether he’ll endorse the president’s 2020 re-election bid.</s>WASHINGTON– Mitt Romney on Saturday called some of the disclosures made by former FBI Director James Comey in his explosive new book “unusual” and “disappointing” and said the excerpts he’d seen were not what he’d expect from a former FBI director.

“I did find it unusual and somewhat disappointing to have an FBI director go into such personal reactions — as opposed to ‘nothing but the facts, ma’am; only the facts,'” Romney said in an interview with CNN at Utah’s GOP convention.

The US Senate candidate, who is vying to replace retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch, said the excerpts of “A Higher Loyalty” that he saw “read a bit too much like a novel.”

“I haven’t read it, but the excerpts that I’ve seen, it struck me — this isn’t what I would have expected for a FBI director,” he said. “I would have expected this from a former Cabinet member, or a member of the White House staff, but somehow felt that the FBI director was more separate from those kinds of comments.”

At the same time, Romney said Comey probably felt the need to respond after his rough treatment by the White House.

“As Marco Rubio can tell you, that’s not always the best strategy,” he quipped, referring to the back-and-forth between the Florida senator and Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

In a discussion of the challenges that would lie ahead if he were elected senator, Romney outlined his views on topics ranging from Syria to his skepticism about the pronouncements of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who recently declared that his nation did not have any further need for nuclear tests.

Romney said any further military action by the US against Syria should go before Congress for approval.

When asked about the probe of the Trump administration by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Romney said he did not see a need — at this juncture — for the Senate to pass legislation to protect Mueller.

“I do not believe for a moment that President Trump will remove Mueller,” Romney said. “If he does remove Mueller, I believe that Congress will reappoint him, and the most effective way to keep the investigation intact is for congressional leaders to make it clear to the President that if (Mueller) were removed by the executive branch, he would be rehired by the legislative branch. I presume that communication has happened already.”

“I believe it’s appropriate for the rule of law to proceed to reach the conclusion of this investigation — hopefully sooner rather than later,” Romney said when asked whether he still has confidence in Mueller.

Romney, who called Russia the biggest geopolitical threat facing the United States during his 2012 presidential campaign, said he was also keeping a close eye on the evidence emerging about Russian meddling in US elections but was still thinking about what remedies would best address that encroachment.

“There’s no question but that Russia is attempting to delegitimize democracy here and throughout the world,” he said. “Obviously Russia, and to a lesser extent China, have a great incentive to lionize authoritarian rule, and the only way we can effectively counteract that is by sanctioning them, or punishing them for taking action that interferes with a free Democratic process.”

Asked whether he felt the current sanctions on Russia had gone far enough, Romney said he planned to monitor Russia’s involvement in upcoming elections.

“If they are not backing off, then the sanctions — and the punishments — have to be more severe,” Romney said.

Decision ‘down the road’ on Trump in 2020

In a reflection of his uneasy truce with Trump, the Utah Senate candidate said Saturday that he could not commit to supporting Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign — making it clear that he intends to stake his claim as an independent voice for Utah.

“I will make that decision down the road,” Romney said as he waited for his turn to speak at the convention while surrounded by advisers in a hospitality suite at the Maverik arena. “As a person of political experience, if I endorse someone, I’ll want to know what’s in it for Utah and what help would he provide for us on key priorities in Utah.”

“I’m not a cheap date,” he said with a smile.

The 2012 Republican nominee, who was a strident critic of Trump during the 2016 primary, underscored, however, that while he expects Republican candidates to challenge Trump: “I assume that President Trump will be the nominee of our party in 2020.”</s>Mitt Romney was forced Saturday into a Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Utah as he looks to restart his political career by replacing long-serving Sen. Orrin Hatch.

Romney remains the heavy favorite overall to win the Senate seat in November. But if he had won the votes of a majority of the far-right leaning party delegates at the state GOP convention Saturday, he would have bypassed a primary altogether.

Instead, he was edged out by state lawmaker Mike Kennedy, who got 51 percent of the vote to Romney's 49 percent.

Voters will decide between the two in a June 26 primary. Romney previously secured his spot on the ballot by gathering signatures.

Romney went up against 11 other candidates at the convention, mostly political newcomers who questioned Romney's criticism of President Donald Trump and the depth of his ties to Utah.

Kennedy, a doctor and lawyer, got big applause from the crowd as he railed against the national debt, Common Core education standards and former President Barack Obama's health care law.

Romney, 71, asked for delegates' votes after spending two months on the campaign trail visiting dairy farms, taking selfies with college students and making stump speeches in small towns.

After his failed 2012 presidential campaign, he moved to Utah, where he is also known for his role in the 2002 Winter Olympics and for becoming the first Mormon presidential nominee of a major political party.

He's worked to keep the focus on state issues rather than his history of well-documented feuds with Trump, whom he called a "con-man" and a phony during the 2016 race. Trump fired back that Romney "choked like a dog" during his own White House run.

But the two men have shown signs of making peace, and Romney has accepted Trump's endorsement.</s>April 22 (UPI) -- Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was forced into a primary election against Rep. Mike Kennedy in Utah's Senate race.

Romney, who ran against former President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, failed to gather the 60 percent of votes from delegates at the Utah Republican Convention necessary to clinch an outright nomination to replace retiring seven-term Sen. Orrin Hatch.

He received 49 percent of the vote, coming in second out of 12 candidates behind Kennedy, who gathered 51 percent of the vote.

Romney was the only candidate to seek signatures to ensure a spot on the primary ballot -- collecting more than 28,000 -- and suggested the decision resulted in him losing votes from certain delegates.

"I know there were many people who were not enthusiastic about someone gathering signatures," Romney said.

Despite the outcome, Romney said he was glad he gathered the signatures, adding it "was right for me."

Romney's bid for the seat was endorsed by both Hatch and President Donald Trump and he managed to raise $1.68 million for the campaign versus Kennedy's $289,000.

Kennedy alluded to the biblical story of David and Goliath, handing out "stress stones" to the delegates as a promise that he would be the candidate to slay the giant of the political establishment in Washington, D.C.

"I'm tired," Kennedy said. "You know what I'm really tired of? I'm tired of business as usual in Washington, D.C. If you want things to change, you need to vote for change."

Romney dismissed the analogy, saying he has established political stances.

"None of us is David. David was anointed of God. And secondly, I'm not Goliath. Washington, D.C., is the Goliath," Romney said.</s>President Donald Trump’s 2016 win upended much of the conventional wisdom about the U.S. electorate to cobble together a surprising victory. But how much of that remarkable 2016 movement is replicable in 2020, particularly with the demographic changes remaking the United States?

A new bipartisan report runs through some of the scenarios that would lead to Trump’s reelection or a win for Democrats. The States of Change report, authored by a long list of groups including the Center for American Progress and the Bipartisan Policy Center, suggests there is a long-term structural advantage for the Democratic Party but a much more complicated short-term picture.

Sitting behind the report and the electorate in U.S. general is one immutable fact: Change. Trump’s coalition was heavily reliant upon white voters who did not have a college education and that segment of the population is shrinking, while others grow.

By 2020, the report estimates, the percentage of eligible voters who fall into the category of “white without a college degree,” will drop by 2 points, from 46 percent in 2016 to 44 percent. Meanwhile, voter segments that tend to favor Democrats will all grow as a share of the total eligible vote. That includes “whites with a college degree,” African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians/other are all forecasted to climb by one percentage point.

But, of course, elections are not just about who is eligible to vote, they are about who comes out to vote and their margins of support – and this is where the 2020 scenarios get interesting.

The 2016 presidential map featured six prominent flips from 2012 – states that Trump captured but Republican Mitt Romney did not in 2012: Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Some of Trump’s win was about changes in turnout and margin among African-American voters. Turnout among that group of voters dropped by more than 4 points nationally in 2016, according to the report. And the Democratic margin with African Americans dropped to 80 points (yes, you read that right, dropped to 80 points). Democrats won black voters by 88 points in 2012.

If Democrats could somehow bring back the 2012 level of enthusiasm and margin among African Americans, the 2020 presidential results would look very different, according to the report – even if all other voters groups voted the same way they did in 2016.

In this scenario, the Democratic nominee in 2020 would win 339 electoral votes, recapturing Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and adding Georgia, a state no Democratic presidential nominee has won since 1992. In part, that’s due to big growth in the African American population of Georgia.

Of course, ginning up that kind of enthusiasm among African American won’t be easy. There will not be a candidate named Barack Obama on the ballot.

One pattern of voting change that seems likely to continue and perhaps grow is the role reversal among whites with different levels of educational attainment. “White voters without a college degree” are consistently among Trump’s strongest supporters, while “white voters with a degree” are solidly opposed to him.

If those trends grew in 2020, and Trump performs five points better with white non-college-educated voters while also doing five points worse with white voters who hold a college degree, the report finds the net result would look a lot like 2016.

President Trump would win reelection under this scenario and actually see his electoral total grow slightly, to 309, by flipping New Hampshire to his side. And that would happen as the Democrats saw their advantage in the popular vote grow to 2.6 points, up from about 2.1 points in 2016.

How’s that possible? First, white voters without a college education are shrinking as a percentage of the electorate, but in 2020, they will still make up the single biggest share of voters at 44. And some states have a much bigger share of that group of voters – and this scenario would be enough to keep Trump on top in 2020 and even 2024, barely.

However, those kinds of moves in the electorate might not be easy for the president. Trump is a divisive figure on whom most voters seem to have made up their minds, but its not clear what his current low approval ratings would mean in an election.

What would happen if all voting blocks essentially voted the same ways they did in 2016, but with these broad demographic changes in place – basically the 2016 vote with the 2020 electorate?

On the most basic measure, with the same percentage of votes scattering to various third-party options, the Democratic candidate would narrowly win with 279 electoral votes – remember, it takes 270 to win.

But if the third-party vote in 2020 looks more likes its historical norm and those voters go back to their home parties, the report says the 2020 election could yield an extraordinary deadlock.

Under that scenario, Michigan and Pennsylvania, both – extremely close Trump wins in 2016 – would flip Democratic. The Democratic nominee would win the popular vote by nearly 4 points and the Electoral College would be tied at 269-269. (Though some states with split electoral votes, such as Maine and Nebraska, could put one candidate or the other over the top.)

Of course, 2020 is several lifetimes away in political terms. No one knows what the issues will be for the next presidential race or where the economy will be or, maybe most important, who the Democratic nominee will be. The only thing we know for certain is what slogan Donald Trump plans to use.

But the point in these numbers is not the actual outcomes. The point is how little it takes to get a different result. Adding a few votes here or subtracting them there could yield very different outcomes in the next presidential race.</s>Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney ran into an obstacle Saturday in his bid to succeed Utah’s retiring U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch.

At the state’s Republican Party convention in West Valley City, Romney finished second in votes from party delegates, behind state lawmaker Mike Kennedy.

That means Kennedy, who captured 50.18 percent of the delegate vote, and Romney (49.12 percent) will face each other in a GOP primary election June 26.

In comments after the vote, Romney kept an upbeat tone.

“I’m delighted with the outcome. Did very, very well,” Romney told Salt Lake City's FOX 13. “On to a good, important primary ahead. This is terrific for the people of Utah.”

Kennedy, too, was pleased with the results, the station reported.

“I’m a candidate with a compelling life story and a unique set of life circumstances I’d like to use to serve the people of Utah,” he told FOX 13.

Saturday’s convention lasted more than eight hours, mostly because of bickering over rules, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

The delegates at the convention tend to be more conservative than Utah’s general electorate, the newspaper noted.

Romney, 71, who ran against Barack Obama for president in 2012, went up against 11 other candidates seeking the Utah’s GOP nomination for U.S. Senate. Most of them were political newcomers who questioned Romney's criticism of President Donald Trump and the depth of his ties to Utah. (Romney is a former governor of Massachusetts, and his late father, George Romney, was a former governor of Michigan.)

Romney is perhaps best known in Utah for his chairmanship of the 2002 Winter Olympics, which were held in the state, and also because he was the first Mormon to be the presidential nominee of a major party. He moved to Utah after his 2012 campaign failed.

In launching his U.S. Senate bid, Romney has tried to keep the focus on state issues rather than his history of well-documented feuds with President Donald Trump, whom he called a "con man" and a phony during the 2016 race.

Trump fired back that Romney "choked like a dog" during his own White House run. But the two men have shown fresh signs of burying the hatchet, and Romney has accepted Trump's endorsement.

Hatch, 83, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, announced his retirement plans several months ago, despite efforts by President Trump to convince him to stay in Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Mitt Romney says that he won't commit to supporting Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.