A likely contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, Governor Romney of Massachusetts, yesterday smoothed his path to a White House bid by declaring that he will not run for re-election next year.

“I love the job, but there’s no reason to stay once you’ve gotten the job done you set out to do,” Mr. Romney, 58, told reporters during an early evening press conference at the Statehouse in Boston. In a brief speech, he claimed credit for turning the state’s economy around and boosting the performance of Massachusetts public school students, who now lead the nation in test scores.

Mr. Romney also noted that the state Legislature is on the verge of enacting a version of the universal health care program that has been his signature initiative. “We’re on the verge of something truly historic – insuring all the citizens of the commonwealth,” he said.

The governor batted away repeated questions about a possible presidential candidacy and denied that such considerations affected his decision to leave the governor’s office at the beginning of 2007.”With regards to what happens down the road, we’ll let the future take care of itself,” he said.

Still, Mr. Romney did manage to get in a playful dig at a man who may be his most formidable rival for the GOP nomination, Senator McCain of Arizona. “John McCain the other day said that he thinks about being president every day in the shower,” the governor observed. “I guess I’d turn instead to the words of ‘Star Wars,’ which is, ‘It’s in a galaxy far, far away.’ That’s down the road. It’s a lifetime away in the world of politics.”

While Mr. Romney played coy yesterday about a possible presidential bid, he has been assiduously making the political rounds in New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina – all states that are expected to host early GOP primaries or caucuses.

Earlier this month, Mr. Romney took the reins of the Republican Governors Association. The position could help him build up his contacts with GOP organizers and fund-raisers around the country. However, if Republicans do poorly in gubernatorial races next fall, the Massachusetts governor could take the blame.

Mr. Romney noted yesterday that one of the Republican gubernatorial hopefuls who may be seeking his assistance is the former Massachusetts governor who is expected to run for governor of New York next year, William Weld.

“I expect Bill Weld is hoping that I’ll send some money his way. Won’t that be a shift,” Mr. Romney joked.

In his remarks, Mr. Romney went out of his way to praise Democratic leaders in the state Legislature. His collegial tone was striking for its contrast with the sharply partisan rhetoric more commonly heard in Washington.

Still, a founder of a New York-based group of active Republicans, James Higgins, said one likely reason for Mr. Romney’s decision was to spare him mischief from the Democrat-controlled state Legislature as he makes a run for the presidency. If he remained as governor, “They would really be roughing him up gratuitously,” Mr. Higgins, an organizer of the “Monday Meeting,” said.

Mr. Higgins said Mr. Romney, who was a founder of an investment banking firm, Bain Capital, is well-known in New York financial circles and will have little trouble raising money. A greater challenge for the Massachusetts governor, Mr. Higgins said, will be developing name recognition and national stature in a field that may include widely known figures like Mr. McCain and Mayor Giuliani. He said Republicans have historically been less welcoming to little-known presidential candidates than the Democrats have been.

A meeting of Mr. Romney’s political team, including those expected to advise him in any bid for the White House, is scheduled to take place in Boston on Friday, the Boston Globe reported yesterday.

One of those advisers, Michael Murphy, said Mr. Romney is well-positioned to run as an outsider unsullied by Washington politics. “There is always an advantage for the non-Washington candidate, which I think Romney has,” Mr. Murphy told The New York Sun in an interview prior to yesterday’s announcement.

Mr. Murphy has advised both Messrs. Romney and McCain and has said he would not join either campaign if both men run for the GOP nomination. However, the consultant has recently seemed closer to Mr. Romney than to Mr. McCain, who has turned to an advertising guru who has worked for President Bush, Mark MacKinnon.

“Maybe I’ll give some paid advice to Mitt and some free advice to McCain,” Mr. Murphy quipped.

In 1988, another Massachusetts governor, Michael Dukakis, campaigned for the White House touting his efforts to bring universal medical insurance coverage to all the state’s residents. Mr. Dukakis won the nomination, but ultimately lost to President George H.W. Bush.

In the following years, Massachusetts slid into a deep recession and the universal health care program was largely dismantled.

Mr. Romney’s health care plan is based on a requirement that all individuals carry health insurance. The “individual mandate” approach has been endorsed by some conservatives, such as former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who also may be a candidate for the GOP nomination in 2008.

Some Massachusetts Democrats and businesses are pressing for provisions that would also force most employers to offer insurance or pay a special surtax to the state. Mr. Romney has opposed those proposals, but appears intent on getting some form of his health care plan enacted in the coming days. It remains unclear how much of the health insurance initiative will be implemented by the time the 2008 presidential race gears up.