Mitt Romney passes on presidential run

The 2012 Republican presidential nominee, who also ran in 2008, will not try his luck a third time. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced today he will not join what is expected to be a crowded GOP field for the 2016 presidential primaries.

The decision came as a surprise to political pundits who predicted Romney would be making his much-talked-about candidacy official today. But Romney, who lost to President Barack Obama in 2012 and failed to win the party’s nomination four years earlier, said the GOP needed a fresh face.

“After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I’ve decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee,” Romney said in a statement he planned to give supporters during a scheduled conference call.

Romney spent the last three weeks feeling out another campaign, telling supporters he was contemplating how he could best help the country. It all started on Jan. 10 when he surprised a small group of former donors with the news that he was thinking about running again for president.

Their responses ultimately killed his short-lived attempt.

Several key Romney supporters and fundraisers have already pledged their support to the first GOP hopeful to announce a possible candidacy—former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The donors told the Associated Press they think Bush, whose father and brother have already served in the White House, has the personality and staff needed to make a successful run, something Romney didn’t have.

“I’ve got great respect for Gov. Romney, and I busted my buns for him,” said Chicago investor Craig Duchossois, whose wife contributed $250,000 to a pro-Romney super PAC while he collected tens of thousands more for Romney’s last campaign. “But I have turned the page.”

And yesterday, one of Romney’s top advisers, David Kochel, defected to the Bush camp. Kochel led the Romney campaign in Iowa in 2008 and 2012, and a Bush spokesman called him one of the “most respected strategists” in the country.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.