(Salt Lake City) — Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is expected announce he is running for the U.S. Senate next week.

According to “UtahPolicy.com,” sources close to Romney say he is choosing to gather the 28-thousand signatures needed from registered Republican voters to ensure he will be on the ballot for June’s party primary.

Romney has been touted as the frontrunner in the 2018 race since Senator Orrin Hatch announced that he would retire at the end of this year.

A recent poll from the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics found that the Republican would win in a 45-point landslide if the general election were held this week.