Willard Mitt Romney is an American politician and businessman who was the Governor of Massachusetts from 1999 until 2007. He was a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2008 and 2020, but failed to win the nomination on either occasion. He is currently the owner of the Salt Lake City Bees baseball team, who play in the Western Conference of the National League.
Raised in Michigan by his parents Lenore and George, a state Governor and Senator, Romney served two years overseas as a Mormon missionary, before attending BYU and Harvard. He then went to work for or Bain & Company, becoming CEO, and later co-founding Bane Capital, a successful private equity firm. Active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) throughout his adult life, Romney served as bishop of his ward and later as a stake president, for an area covering Boston and many of its suburbs.
Romney entered into politics in 1998, when he announced his candidacy for the governorship of Massachusetts, vying to replace the out-going Progressive Governor Michael Dukakis. Romney won the Republican nomination, defeating Joe Malone in the primary. He narrowly defeated Dot Kelly Gay in the general election, running a center-right campaign that emphasized his business experience and success, and contrasting the moderate pro-growth platform the Massachusetts Republican Party tended to promote, as opposed to the "over-regulation and corruption" of the Dukakis administration. In spite of the narrowness of his victory, Romney quickly became a popular Governor, lowering the state's budget deficit, and reforming several government departments. He easily won re-election in 2002, and passed a healthcare reform in his second term, as well as a re-write of the state's tax system.
Soon after leaving office in 2007, Romney launched his first campaign for the presidency. He ran a strong and well-funded campaign, emphasizing his business experience, and his success at passing Republican reforms even in progressive Massachusetts. Romney ran well in New England, and also had some success in the West, but Mitch Daniels easily defeated him in the midwest, the Republican heartland, as well as the South, and that was enough to give Daniels the nomination in what essentially amounted to a two-man race between the two governors.
The two men were able to put aside any animosity that may have arisen, as Romney was appointed as Daniels' first Secretary of Commerce, and he was a prominent figure in Daniels' first term, as he advocated for a reform of the federal business tax regime, and was a leading emissary from the Daniels administration to Republicans in Congress, as well as a familiar media figure, with FSNN describing him as being "the most publicly visible Cabinet Secretary."
After leaving office as Commerce Secretary, Romney moved to Salt Lake City, and purchased a majority stake in the Salt Lake City Bees, who were at the time languishing in the Pacific Coast League, the third tier of American professional baseball. Under Romney's ownership, the Bees won promotion to the American League in 2014, and then a second promotion to the National League in 2017, the first time that a team from Utah had made it to the top level of the baseball pyramid.
Romney was expected to run for the presidency again in 2016, once Daniels left office. However, he surprised many when he announced that he would not, and also turned down overtures from Utah Republicans to run against incumbent Governor Mike Lee in 2018 in his adopted state. Romney did run for election for president in 2020, though, and quickly emerged as the leader of the business-friendly wing of the party, facing off against more moderate rivals Susana Martinez and Tim Ryan. Romney was again strong in the mountain west, but he was challenged by Ryan in New England, and was only able to finish third in the delegate count, as no candidate gained a majority. Romney endorsed Martinez on June 20, 2020, making her the assumptive nominee. It is understood that a deal is in place which would make Romney the Secretary of State in the event that Martinez were to win the election.