Report: Mitt Romney to announce US Senate run in Utah on Thursday

WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will run for a U.S. Senate seat representing Utah and plans to announce his bid online on Thursday, a source familiar with Romney's plans said.

Romney will pledge to "bring Utah values to Washington, D.C." and plan to run a very Utah-centric campaign, the source said on Wednesday. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Susan Thoma)

"Looking forward to making an announcement on February 15th about the Utah Senate race," the 70-year-old businessman and former Massachusetts governor said in a Twitter post.

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Romney, who lost the 2012 U.S. presidential race to Democrat Barack Obama, had been considering a run for the Senate seat from Utah, a Republican-dominated state where he has a home.

The race is to succeed Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, who said last month he would retire at the end of his term.

President Donald Trump had urged Hatch to run again in an apparent attempt to head off Romney, who initially opposed Trump's presidential candidacy and who could act as a political thorn in the side of his administration.

Romney had successful treatment for prostate cancer in 2017, a source close to him said in January. (Reporting by Eric Walsh in Washington; Editing by Eric Beech and Peter Cooney)