The political positions of Mitt Romney have been recorded from his 1994 U.S. senatorial campaign in Massachusetts, the 2002 gubernatorial election, during his 2003–2007 governorship, during his 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, in his 2010 book No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, during his 2012 U.S. presidential campaign, and during his 2018 senatorial campaign in Utah. Some of these political positions have changed, while others have remained unchanged.
In 1994, during his campaign for US Senate in Massachusetts, "Romney has cast himself as a moderate Republican, socially liberal and fiscally conservative" and The New York Times likened his views to those of Governor William F. Weld. During his gubernatorial campaign in 2002, Romney described himself as a centrist saying of himself: "I'm someone who is moderate, and ... my views are progressive." The Boston Globe, reporting on the 2004 Republican National Convention list of speakers, wrote that "Massachusetts Republicans with moderate positions on most social issues, Romney and [Lt. Gov. Kerry] Healey also fit into the moderate tone that the Bush campaign wants to project for its convention." In 2005, Romney described his views as being "moderate on the national scene." However, in 2007, Romney launched his first presidential campaign and referred to himself as consistently conservative. In 2011, again running a presidential campaign, he described himself as being "'in sync' with the conservative Tea Party." In 2012, speaking at CPAC, a conservative political action committee, Romney described his tenure as a 'severely conservative' Governor of Massachusetts. Since 2019, while serving as a United States Senator from Utah, Romney was considered to be among the Senate's moderate Republicans.
In 2012, Gallup surveyed Americans about their perceptions of presidential candidates and 45% perceived Mitt Romney as conservative, 29% as moderate, and 12% as liberal with 14% having no opinion about his ideology. In 2016, Romney considered endorsing and voting for the Libertarian Party's presidential ticket. Romney announced that he did not plan to make an endorsement for president in 2020. He was one of three Republican Senators, the others being Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, who refused to co-sponsor a resolution opposing the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. He was one of two Republicans voting with Democrats to allow witnesses during the impeachment trial, being disinvited from CPAC as a result. In February 2020, he became the sole Republican to vote in favor of convicting President Trump under the first article of impeachment. In the U.S. Senate, as of January 2021, Romney had voted with President Trump on legislative issues about 75% of the time. As of October 2022, he has voted with President Biden's legislative positions about 56.4% of the time.
Economic policy Agriculture In his 1994 Senate campaign, Romney called for the "virtual elimination" of the federal Department of Agriculture and for reductions in farm subsidies. In 2007, when questioned about these views, a Romney for President Iowa campaign spokesman responded: "Governor Romney believes that investing in agriculture is key to our economy and families."
During the 2012 presidential election campaign, Romney took positions on agricultural subsidies that some media reports characterized as vague and somewhat contradictory. In May 2011, just days after rival Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty had declared that federal subsidies for the production of ethanol fuel should be phased out, Romney said that he was a supporter of ethanol subsidies.Jonathan Weisman. "Romney Hearts Ethanol Subsidies", Washington Wire (blog), The Wall Street Journal (May 27, 2011). Five months later, while speaking on agricultural subsidies at a roundtable discussion with Iowa farmers and business leaders, Romney said, "I'm not running for office based on making promises of handing out money. ... We're going to have to live within our means." He also said that while he had supported ethanol subsidies in the past in order to help the ethanol fuel industry become established, and that he continued to believe that ethanol should play a role in meeting the nation's energy needs, he agreed with the discontinuation of the tax credit for production of ethanol from corn that was scheduled to occur two months later. On the subject of agricultural subsidies more generally, Romney wrote in response to a 2012 questionnaire from the American Farm Bureau Federation that "other nations subsidize their farmers, so we must be careful not to unilaterally change our policies in a way that would disadvantage agriculture here in our country." He made similar remarks on the campaign trail in August 2012, without explicitly referring to subsidies: "We don't want to find ourselves with regards to our food supply in the same kind of position we are in with our energy supply, so it's important for us to make sure that our farmers are able to stay on the farm and raise the crops that we need to have a secure source of food. So I believe in supports that will allow us to do that."
Romney's position on federal mandates that require gasoline producers to include ethanol in gasoline blends has been less clear. The Romney campaign responded to a survey question asking for Romney's position on ethanol use mandates by saying the ethanol industry "has made important strides in reducing America's dependence on foreign oil" and ethanol "should continue to have prospects for growing its share in transportation fuels." Romney wrote to the American Farm Bureau Federation, "The increased production of biofuels plays an important part in my plan to achieve energy independence. In order to support increased market penetration and competition among energy sources, I am in favor of maintaining the Renewable Fuel Standard."
Romney declined to respond to survey questions from the Iowa Corn Growers Association requesting his positions on crop insurance and conservation during the presidential primary campaign. He responded to an American Farm Bureau Federation questionnaire in 2012 by saying, "my immediate priority [as president] should be given to enacting disaster relief for those not traditionally covered by crop insurance as this year's drought has worsened."
Automotive industry
During the 2008 presidential primary campaign, Romney had distinguished his prescription for the automotive industry from rival candidate John McCain's by calling for a five-fold increase, to $20 billion per year over five years, in federal funding for research and development in energy, fuel technology, materials science, and automotive technology. In a January 14 speech, he stated, "I'm not willing to sit back and say, ' ... Too bad for the people who've lost their jobs. They're gone forever.'"David A. Graham. "A Short History of Mitt Romney's Views on the Detroit Bailout", The Atlantic (April 30, 2012). As the 2008–2010 automotive industry crisis arose during the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession, Romney argued against a bailout with direct government loans of the auto industry. He proposed that struggling auto manufacturers should undergo managed bankruptcy, after which they should seek loans from the private-sector credit market with government-backed loan guarantees. Writing in an op-ed article published in The New York Times in November 2008 (his original title had been "The Way Forward for the Auto Industry" but the editors published the article under the title "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt"),Ashley Parker.“Having Opposed Auto Bailout, Romney Now Takes Credit for Rebound”, Politics and Government Blog, The New York Times (March 8, 2012): "In fact, that headline was written by the paper, not Mr. Romney, who originally submitted the piece as, 'The Way Forward for the Auto Industry.'"Sam Gustin. "Does Mitt Romney Deserve Credit for Saving Detroit? Not Quite", Time Magazine (May 9, 2012): "It's worth noting that Romney did not write the Times headline, which gives the impression that Romney thought the companies should be allowed to fail completely. He didn't think that." Romney said, "If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye." In referring to his proposal for managed bankruptcy, he said "[i]t would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs." The Obama Administration ultimately implemented managed bankruptcy reorganizations of the General Motors and Chrysler corporations in combination with the direct government financing that Romney had opposed,David A. Graham. "Mitt Romney Didn't Flip-Flop on the Auto Bailout (This Time)", The Atlantic (June 5, 2012). after which Romney said that he deserved credit for the auto industry's recovery.
During the 2012 presidential campaign, Romney criticized the Obama Administration for holding General Motors stock for longer than he thought prudent. He said that the government should sell its General Motors stock holdings quickly and should seek alternatives to what he called excessive automotive industry regulation.Kreindler, Derek (June 6, 2012).Romney Would Sell GM Stock, Lo
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or CAFE Alternatives. The Truth About Cars.Romney: I would sell GM stock . June 6, 2012, CNN, WCBV.com He also said that fuel economy standards should be determined by market forces rather than by government mandates, and he called electric vehicles "a technology that people aren't interested in." GM and Chrysler have denied that their post-bailout returns to the Chinese market are attempts to outsource American jobs, as Romney claimed from a since corrected report by Bloomberg News.Fiat Says Jeep Output May Return to China as Demand Rises.Bloomberg, October 22, 2012.
Budget In March 2012, Romney endorsed the House Budget Committee proposed budget for the fiscal year 2013, a newer version of Paul Ryan's The Path to Prosperity. In 2019, as a US Senator, Romney voted for both Republican and Democratic bills to end a government shutdown. He was one of six Republicans breaking with their party to vote for the Democratic bill. In 2021, Romney joined all Senate and House Republicans in voting against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021; however, on September 30, 2021, he was among 15 Republicans in the Senate who joined all Democrats, and both Independents, to pass a temporary spending bill to continue government funding and avoid a government shutdown.
In August 2021, Romney was among the 19 US Republican Senators who voted with the Democratic caucus to pass a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. The bill passed the House of Representatives, with 13 Republicans joining the Democrats, in November 2021 after being delayed due to negotiations among political factions of the House. In December 2021, he was one of 14 Republicans in the US Senate to vote with all members of the Democratic caucus in favor of allowing the Democratic leadership to raise the debt ceiling on a party-line vote.
Campaign finance In his 1994 Senate campaign, Romney advocated spending limits on congressional campaigns and suggested abolishing political action committees. In his 2002 gubernatorial campaign, Romney proposed taxing private political contributions in order to finance publicly funded campaigns. In 2007 Romney began criticizing the McCain-Feingold Law, saying "We step into dangerous territory when politicians start eviscerating our fundamental freedoms in the name of amorphous principles, like campaign finance reform."