Mitt Romney will not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2016, according to people familiar with his decision.
Mr. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, was expected to share his decision on a conference call with a small group of advisers and later with a larger group of supporters.
By not pursuing a third White House bid, Mr. Romney frees up scores of donors and operatives who had been awaiting his decision, and creates space for other potential center-right candidates such as Jeb Bush.
Mr. Romney, 67, had expressed renewed interest in another presidential run to a group of donors earlier this month, roiling the nascent Republican race. Many of his loyal contributors, staff members and supporters had been reluctant to come out for one of his potential rivals until they knew Mr. Romney’s plans.
But his flirtation had also prompted a fierce backlash across Republican circles, and some of Mr. Romney's former aides and donors have begun moving on to other candidates.
At 11 on Thursday night, a blast email was sent from a mittromney.comaddress, alerting supporters about a conference call on Friday morning.
“Please join me for an update call tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. EST, 8:00 a.m. PST,” wrote Mr. Romney, adding the dial-in information and concluding, “All the best, Mitt.”
In an appearance at Mississippi State University on Wednesday, Mr. Romney sounded themes that could have shaped another campaign. But he also lamented the nature of the political process and offered a dose of barely veiled self-criticism, discussing some of the shortcomings of his 2012 campaign and the lessons he learned from his loss to President Obama.
Mr. Romney’s decision will almost certainly bring an end to his decade-long quest to become president. He lost in the Republican primary in 2008 before becoming his party’s standard-bearer four years later.
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