Romney to announce he won't seek re-election

Governor is expected to seek GOP presidential nomination in 2008

Governor Mitt Romney will announce at 6 p.m. that he will not seek re-election to a second term, setting the stage for an expected campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, a senior aide to the governor said today.

The aide told the Boston Globe that Romney will announce that he will fill out his term, which ends in January, 2007. The move is widely seen as another step in his plans to launch a presidential campaign. His announcement today is expected to be televised live from the State House.

The 58-year-old businessman, son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney, has spent less than three years in elective office, but in that time the state has closed a $3 billion budget deficit without raising taxes, schools have scored first in national math and science tests and Romney held out until the Legislature gave him a tough new drunken driving law he demanded.

Romney began calling supporters and other political figures this afternoon to let them know of his decision. In between calls, he was putting the "final touches" on his announcement speech, which his wife, Ann, planned to attend, the source said.

The announcement ends months of speculation over whether Romney, who took office after winning the 2002 gubernatorial election, would seek the presidency after only one term in office. He confirmed last spring that he was testing the presidential waters. During the past year, he has made frequent trips out of state, often to states that are considered key primary battle grounds in a presidential campaign.

Romney had cast himself as "a red speck in a blue state" during an October speech to a Washington think-tank, one of many similar comments across the country during the past year that had been viewed as disparaging Massachusetts -- the land of the Kennedys and two failed Democratic candidates for president portrayed as out-of-touch liberals.

Should he run for president, a decision he is expected to announce closer to the 2008 election, Romney will need to break through a pack of more prominent Republicans, including Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.