Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) floated running mates should he launch an independent run during a Thursday stop on his listening tour.

“Hypothetically, if I was picking my running mate, really who I would ask right now is Mitt Romney,” Manchin said, referring to the Republican senator from Utah and the 2012 Republican nominee for president.

The West Virginia centrist Democrat also floated former Sen. Rob Portman as a vice presidential pick.

“Rob’s a dear friend of mine,” Manchin said. “What a good man.”

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After Manchin announced he would not be running for reelection to the Senate in November, he began to travel around the country to see if there could be interest in a movement to mobilize centrists in the country. The potential has raised concerns from Democrats that a third-party candidate could siphon support away from President Joe Biden in the general election. 

Manchin’s appearance in Cleveland on Thursday was part of his “listening tour,” which included a stop last month in New Hampshire. Later this week, he plans to travel to West Virginia and Arizona. He is also scheduled to address the Detroit Economic Club the day before the Democratic presidential primary in Michigan. 

The tour has fueled speculation that the senator could decide to pursue a third-party campaign for president. When asked further about a run for president at the event by a member of the audience on Thursday, Manchin would not provide any more details. 

“Guys, listen. I’m not running for anything,” Manchin said. “I’m basically running to try to get people involved.”

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After the event, Manchin told reporters he hadn’t ruled out a run for the White House, according to reporting from NBC News.

“Third-party run. Everything is on the table,” Manchin said to reporters. “Nothing’s off the table. I’m still evaluating all that. Super Tuesday pretty much would be a deadline that tells you where you are.”