Eight years after he abruptly resigned from Congress, Jason Chaffetz is raising money for a possible political comeback — but he is coy about whether he will run for governor in 2028.
It’s still three years until Utahns elect the next governor, but former Congressman Jason Chaffetz may have already begun to lay the groundwork for his possible return to political office.
Chaffetz created a political action committee, the Utah Victory Fund, early last year and used it to help a handful of candidates and cover expenses to attend county conventions.
In March, he moved $113,634 from his federal PAC, the American Victory Fund, to his state PAC. That money could now be used if he decides to mount a campaign for state office.
“I’m thinking about the potential of possibly running for governor in 2028, but that’s still a long ways off,” Chaffetz said Thursday during a short break from hosting a FOX News radio program.
For the past two years, he said, the money he has moved through the state PAC has mainly been to boost conservatives running for office.
“I want to help the state stay conservative, so I’m helping raise money. I’ve given away some money,” he said. “I want to help conservatives up and down the state.”
Chaffetz has not had to file a disclosure for the PAC this year but said he has about $200,000 in the account. Last year, he made small donations to Derek Brown’s race for attorney general, a few Salt Lake County races and gave money to several county parties.
Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah, said there are a few signs that indicate a person may run for office.
“One of them is [forming] a PAC,” Perry said, “and [Chaffetz] was in a unique position before he left to put some money into that PAC for use down the road.”
Since abruptly announcing his resignation from the U.S. House eight years ago, Chaffetz has been a regular contributor and occasional host on FOX News television and radio. His name is sometimes floated as a potential candidate for governor or U.S. Senate, and he has kept his options open but never jumped into a race.
If he does decide to run in 2028, Perry said, “Jason Chaffetz comes with a record that people already know, which is going to be an advantage to some degree.”
If Chaffetz makes a bid for governor, there will be competition. Former state Rep. Phil Lyman — who battled Gov. Spencer Cox in a caustic contest for the GOP nomination for governor last year and has relentlessly attacked him since — has said he plans to run again in 2028.
“I do plan on running in four years, and the truth is, I plan on fighting this fight on whatever front,” Lyman told a gathering last November in Orem, where, according to the Daily Herald, he resurfaced allegations of fraud in the 2024 race.
Cox has said this is his last term as governor.
Other possible GOP contenders include his No. 2, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper; and Republican National Committeeman Brad Bonham.
“It’s going to be a very crowded field,” Perry said, “so you may see someone get to that Republican primary and win with a very low percentage of the vote, so you need to be very strategic.”
Source: Utah News