A Utah state Senator officially filed to run for Congress in the state’s 3rd Congressional District just weeks after he announced setting up an exploratory committee to weigh a potential run, Deseret reported.
Republican State Senator Dr. Mike Kennedy announced on January 4 that he was running to replace Republican Congressman John Curtis in 2024.
Curtis, will not be seeking reelection this year. Instead, he filed to run for the Republican nomination for the US Senate to replace outgoing Utah Senator Mitt Romney.
Kennedy, who lost to Mitt Romney in the 2018 Senate primary, has served in the Utah legislature for over a decade and currently represents the state Senate district that overlaps with the state’s 3rd Congressional District.
In announcing his campaign, Kennedy said the country was “at a pivotal moment” and vowed that as a member of the House, he would focus on protecting freedoms, returning to fiscal stability, and securing the southern border.
Kennedy said the House was in dire need of “conservative problem solvers and responsible governance,” and the issues Americans are facing today, including rising costs, inflation, the “mounting national debt,” and the crisis at the border, require lawmakers who are prepared “to take on these issues” while at the same time understanding “the importance of civil discourse and collaboration.”
Kennedy is a medical doctor who practices family medicine. He received a medical degree from Michigan State University and a law degree from the J. Reuben Clark School of Law at Brigham Young University.
Kennedy is one of several Republicans running for Rep. Curtis’ seat. Also running are former Utah Republican Party Chair Stewart Peay, Roosevelt Mayor Rod Bird, and businessman Case Lawrence.
Summit County Councilman Glenn Wright, the Democrat who challenged Curtis in the 2022 midterms, is running again in 2024.
The deadline to file for the 2024 election in Utah was Monday, January 8.