Do we like Mitt Romney?
Our score: 7 out of 10. A man who stood up to his own party at real cost, with a mixed record on LGBTQ+ rights that keeps him out of the top tier.
Willard Mitt Romney is the son of a Michigan governor, and he went on to make his name in business, co-founding Bain Capital, and then in public life. He ran Massachusetts as governor from 2003 to 2007, fell short as the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, then became a U.S. senator for Utah. He announced in 2023 that he wouldn't seek re-election and left the Senate in January 2025.
The part LGBTQ+ readers should know first: as governor he fought same-sex marriage. BuzzFeed News reported he used a 1913 law to stop out-of-state same-sex couples marrying in Massachusetts, and he backed a federal constitutional amendment to ban it. In a 2002 debate he said: “Call me old fashioned, but I don't support gay marriage.”
He moved, though not all the way. In 2022 he voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, saying it “provides certainty to many LGBTQ Americans”, though he also said he believes in traditional marriage. In 2021 he declined to back the Equality Act, with his office saying it lacked the religious liberty protections he wanted. So: a real shift, and a real limit.
On the wider harm check, there's no conspiracy-theory slide here. He voted to remove Trump from office in both impeachment trials, and in a 2024 CNN interview he called January 6 “a very dark day in American history.” He's also said the country has to “put a price on carbon”, though he voted against the 2022 climate and tax bill that no Republican backed.
The good stuff is real. In June 2020 he marched with Black Lives Matter protesters in Washington, reportedly the first Republican senator to do so, saying “We need to stand up and say, ‘Black lives matter.’” He took plenty of flak from his own side for it, and for the impeachment votes.
Lately he's been blunt about his party. In April 2026 he said he'd keep speaking out even if it puts him further at odds with party leadership, and he warned that Medicaid cuts could strip coverage from as many as 200,000 Massachusetts residents. He also said Democrats did the same kind of saluting under Joe Biden, so he's not playing favourites.