Ex-chief of staff mulls run for office

Jason Chaffetz, former chief of staff to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., is looking once again at the possibility of running for Congress.

Chaffetz, a Republican, said he will file a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission this week aimed at raising money to "test the waters" before deciding whether to challenge Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, for the state's 3rd Congressional District seat.

Although Cannon was just re-elected to a sixth two-year term, Chaffetz said there's still a chance that Utah might get a new, fourth seat in Congress that could trigger special elections in every district sometime in 2007.

"You just never know how quickly this might come up," he said. "It's a very different election cycle and you have to treat it differently."

Chaffetz, who lives in Utah County, briefly considered running for Congress more than a year ago, for the 2nd District seat still held by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah. But he decided against entering that race because he was still working for the governor.