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By MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- If Mitt Romney becomes Utah’s next senator, he will be far from the typical freshman.
The 2012 Republican nominee for president is among the best-known names in U.S. politics, with a long career that includes successful businessman, blue-state governor, Olympics rescuer and, more recently, one of the GOP’s fiercest internal critics of President Donald Trump.
The extensive resume has many Republicans looking to Romney to take on a role often filled by another former presidential contender -- John McCain -- as Senate elder statesman and counterweight to a president many in the GOP see as divisive and undignified.
McCain was quick to praise Romney, his former rival, saying in a tweet Friday shortly after Romney announced his Senate bid that he “has shown the country what it means to lead with honor, integrity and civility. The people of #Utah and the nation need his strong voice, resolve and service now more than ever.”
Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby said Romney will bring the prestige of his previous roles as Massachusetts governor, presidential candidate and businessman to his new job.
“I think he will be a plus-plus in the Senate,” Shelby said, calling Romney “a thoughtful man” and a leader who at 70 is senior enough to be an elder statesman.
Shelby, 83, has had his differences with Trump. He publicly opposed a GOP nominee backed by Trump in Alabama’s closely watched Senate race last year, declaring before the election that “the state of Alabama deserves better” than Roy Moore, a former judge accused of sexual contact with teenage girls decades ago.
Romney has the stature to make similar declarations when -- or if -- they are needed, Shelby said. “I know the governor and I think he would support good ideas,” Shelby said.
Romney, a heavy favorite to win the Senate seat in Republican-dominated Utah, will step in “immediately” as a leader in the Senate, said Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, who got to know Romney when both served as governors and when he co-chaired Romney’s presidential campaigns in Idaho.