Another Republican is throwing his hat into the ring to challenge Democrat Ben McAdams in Utah’s 4th Congressional District.
Trent Christensen last week filed his intention to gather signatures to get on the primary ballot with the state. He tells UtahPolicy.com he wants to bring an economic focus to the race.
“I have great concern about Nancy Pelosi and what is going on in Congress,” says Christensen. “I have four kids, and the direction this Congress and the Democrats are taking makes me very concerned about the country we’ll be leaving for our children.”
Christensen brings some fundraising chops to the race. He was a regional finance director for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, raising more than $90 million for that effort according to his LinkedIn profile.
“I don’t anticipate quite that much for a House seat,” joked Christensen in an email to UtahPolicy.com. “I’m finding tremendous support from people here in Utah as I explore this bid.”
Christensen says he is a supporter of President Donald Trump, and disagreed with Sen. Romney’s vote to convict the president during the Senate impeachment trial, but he does not think that vote was out of malice for Trump.
“If Mitt Romney said he was voting the way his conscience dictated, then that is the truth, and I can respect that,” said Christensen.
Christensen would be a late addition to an already crowded race in Utah’s 4th Congressional District. Several candidates have been running for the GOP nomination for months, including State Rep. Kim Coleman, Kathleen Anderson, former NFL player Burgess Owens, former KSL radio host Jay McFarland and Chris Biesinger. State Sen. Dan Hemmert, who was considered the frontrunner for the GOP nomination, dropped out in December.
Democrat Ben McAdams is widely considered to be the “most vulnerable” member of his party in Congress. Utah’s 4th Congressional District is overwhelmingly Republican and McAdams won in 2018 by fewer than 700 votes.
McAdams finds himself in a precarious position right now. Polling shows McAdams’ approval ratings dropped 11 points during the impeachment proceedings, and more voters in the 4th Congressional District say they would cast a ballot for the Republican candidate instead of the Democrat in November.
McAdams does have a massive cash advantage over all of his potential Republican rivals right now, raising more than twice as much as the Republican field combined during the last reporting period.
Christensen says he will make a final decision on whether to run sometime after Utah’s Super Tuesday presidential primary. He has already filed a declaration to gather signatures to get on the ballot in November.
