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WASHINGTON, D.C – 2012 GOP Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney announced Friday that he would not be making a bid for the White House in 2016.

“After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I’ve decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee,” Romney told supporters on a conference call from New York.

Romney, 64, has made two bids for the White House before. In 2008, Romney withdrew his name for the Republican nomination before endorsing Arizona Senator John McCain. In 2012, Romney, with the backing of the majority of the party, earned the Republican nomination.

The announcement not to run comes after many of his former major donors and a veteran staffer in the early voting state of Iowa defected to support former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

Bush formed a PAC, which is required for raising money and hiring a staff for a campaign, in December of last year.

The 61-year-old former governor reacted to Romney’s announcement on social media.

“Mitt Romney has been a leader in our party for many years. There are few people who have worked harder to elect Republicans across the country than he has.” Bush said via Facebook. ”Though I’m sure today’s decision was not easy, I know that Mitt Romney will never stop advocating for renewing America’s promise through upward mobility, encouraging free enterprise and strengthening our national defense. Mitt is a patriot and I join many in hoping his days of serving our nation and our party are not over. I look forward to working with him to ensure all Americans have a chance to rise up.”

Bush and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie would have served as Romney’s most likely rivals for the support of GOP members and donors.

Romney is not expected to endorse another Republican candidate.

“I am convinced that we could win the nomination, but I fully realize it would have been a difficult test and hard fight,” Romney said.

As for reconsidering another bid for the White House in the future, Romney said it “seems unlikely.”

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) talks to reporters as he arrives at a closed door briefing June 4, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Officials from the Obama Administration were on the Hill to brief Senate members on the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

As former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton faces criticism about her use of a private email address during her time in the administration, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) admitted he has never sent an email.

“I don’t email,” Graham said on NBC’s “Meet the Press”. “You can have every email I’ve ever sent. I’ve never sent one.”

Graham said he wants to know “did she communicate on behalf of (the) Clinton Foundation as secretary of state?” or if “she (called) the terrorist attack in Benghazi a terrorist attack in real time?”

Clinton’s lone comment of the controversy surrounding her home-based email server came via twitter.

“I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible,” Clinton told her 2.9 million followers.

Graham, a Republican Senator from South Carolina, is reportedly weighing a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. Clinton is also reportedly looking into running for the Democratic nomination.

SAN ANTONIO — Four Democrats are officially in the running for Texas House District 124, the Bexar County seat opened up by José Menéndez’s election to the State Senate last month.

Candidates to replace the San Antonio Democrat include San Antonio City Councilmember Delicia Herrera, firefighter Nathan Alonzo, attorney Ina Minjarez and insurance agent David Rosa.

Rosa, who is listed as a Democrat for the special election, unsuccessfully ran as a Republican against now U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro in 2012.

Menéndez, who has held the District 124 seat since 2000, won a special election to fill the vacated seat of Leticia Van de Putte, who is running for Mayor of San Antonio.

Early voting begins March 23 and ends March 27. Election Day is March 31.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks during the ‘Exempt America from Obamacare’ rally, on Capitol Hill, September 10, 2013 in Washington, DC. Some conservative lawmakers are making a push to try to defund the health care law as part of the debates over the budget and funding the federal government. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images.

The spokeswoman for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) will leave her Washington, D.C. office to join the senator’s political action committee based in Austin.

Catherine Frazier, Cruz’s official Senate press secretary, is set to leave her job at the end of the month and relocate to her hometown of Houston. Frazier is expected to join the senator’s Jobs, Growth and Freedom PAC.

Cruz is considering a run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.

Frazier, a graduate of the University of Texas, previously worked as former-Governor Rick Perry’s press secretary and also served as deputy communications director for Texans for Rick Perry, Perry’s PAC.

The Washington Times reported on Monday that Brian Phillips, the communications director to U.S. Mike Lee (R-Utah), has also joined Cruz’s PAC.