A group led by a Utah state GOP chairman is forming a “Draft Mitt” movement to persuade the 2012 Republican nominee and general election loser to run in 2016.
According to the Deseret News, Brett Nielsen and state GOP Chairman James Evans “hope to put together a strong enough case that Romney won’t be able to say no to getting into the race.”
Nielsen, who worked on Romney’s 2012 campaign, conceded that Romney has “been pretty adamant he’s not going to run again.” But Nielsen said he would have more answers for how to proceed with their efforts in June or July.
Evans, on Fox News, vowed to make the case to Romney to run again.
“It’s our job to bring the data to Gov. Romney and simply make one case: Enough Republicans that didn’t vote for you last time are ready to vote for you now,” Evans said on Your World with Neil Cavuto.
The Draft Mitt movement has been mocked as “far fetched,” and even former Romney supporters like Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) have been skeptical.