Mitt Romney’s niece, Ronna Romney McDaniel, says she’s thinking about running for the Michigan Senate seat being vacated next year by the retirement of Democrat Carl Levin.
Romney McDaniel, 39, is no political novice. She campaigned heavily for her uncle in last year's presidential race and both her mother and grandmother have run unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in the past. Her grandfather George Romney was also a governor of Michigan.
"It's something I'm going to consider [after] what I saw around the state with how frustrated people were with what's happening in D.C.," Romney McDaniel told
The Detroit News Tuesday. "Maybe this is a time where we can bring a new voice and get a Republican senator from our state."
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Her father, Scott Romney, Mitt’s older brother, briefly considered running for Levin’s seat himself. But after deciding against it, he urged his daughter to go for it.
"I think she'd be great," Romney told The News. "She's been very active in the party. She worked very hard for my brother all across the state. She's a great campaigner, a great organizer, and she's a great leader.”
East Lansing pollster Steve Mitchell told the newspaper Romney McDaniel would be a "strong candidate," thanks to her name recognition, a blank slate for a voting record, and access to the family fundraising machine.
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