WASHINGTON — Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will formally announce he is entering the Republican 2012 presidential race on Thursday, June 2 in New Hampshire, FOX News Channel reported Thursday.
The announcement will be held at noon during a barbecue at Republican stalwart Doug Scamman’s Bittersweet Farm in Stratham, N.H., according to The Union Leader.
Romney, 64, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for president in 2008, had already formed an exploratory committee earlier in the year.
An aide told FOX News that Romney “intends to call for limited government, a cut in the federal debt and a need for strong leadership in international affairs.”
He will also put emphasis on his private and public sector experience, the aide said.
“He has the experience to create jobs and grow the economy, and he is the strongest Republican to defeat President Obama in 2012,” an aide told The Union Leader.
News of Romney’s announcement follows reports that former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum will launch his presidential campaign at an event in western Pennsylvania on June 6.
Santorum, who served two terms in the Senate from 1995-2007, will make his announcement near one of the Pennsylvania coalmines where his grandfather worked, sources close to his campaign said Thursday.
In a national poll out Thursday, Romney led the current crop of 2012 Republican presidential candidates or would-be candidates.
It was the first poll released since several high-profile Republicans decided not to enter the race.
Romney received the support of 17 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents nationwide, two points ahead of the runner-up, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who had 15 percent.
A number of recent moves by Palin — her decision to buy a house in Scottsdale, Ariz., her appearance in a new documentary film set to debut in Iowa next month and a nationwide bus tour due to begin Sunday — have ramped up rumors of her jumping into the race after a period in which she appeared dormant.
Tellingly, 22 percent of those polled said they did not have a preference at this point. Many Republicans have complained about the current field of candidates. Those concerns were exacerbated by the recent decisions by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to take a pass this election cycle.
The poll was also conducted after real estate tycoon Donald Trump announced his decision to forgo a presidential run.
Texas libertarian congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) finished third in the poll with 10 percent, ahead of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (nine percent), businessman Herman Cain (eight percent), former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (six percent), Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (five percent), and former US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman and Santorum, each with two percent.
Of the 10 candidates in Gallup’s newly-reduced list, seven have either officially announced their candidacies or established presidential exploratory committees.
The Gallup poll surveyed 971 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents nationwide from May 20-24.
The percentage margin of error for the poll was plus or minus four percent.