Activist Tim DeChristopher seeks candidate to challenge Jim Matheson

SALT LAKE CITY — Known for his creative disruption of an oil- and gas-lease auction in 2008, this year Tim DeChristopher hopes to creatively disrupt a congressional campaign.

DeChristopher and what he calls a "coalition of progressives" have formed a grass-roots effort called The Citizens' Candidate to unseat 2nd District Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson.

"There is an overall dissatisfaction with Washington," DeChristopher said. "People are looking for a change."

The initiative is using Craigslist to find applicants willing to run against Matheson in this year's congressional election.

The campaign's job description calls for a "courageous congressperson" with "solid moral values and a resistance to selling out to corporate interests."

Potential candidates also are expected to stop "catastrophic climate change" and end "imperialist wars of aggression," among other duties, according to the campaign's Web site.

A final candidate will be selected during a meeting at the Salt Lake Main Library on Jan. 30.

Matheson spokeswoman Alyson Heyrend said the incumbent congressman is looking forward to another winning campaign.

"He is proud of his public service and his record, and he his happy to put both before the Utah electorate," she said.

As an environmental activist, DeChristopher made headlines in 2008 after he sabotaged a Bureau of Land Management oil- and gas-lease auction by bidding on leases he had no money to pay for.

Although a statement released by The Citizens' Candidate expressed the desire to elect a "real Democrat" to a congressional seat in Utah, DeChristopher said the effort is not about party politics.

"This is not about liberal versus conservative," he said. "This is about top versus bottom. There is a sentiment that even a Republican would be better than Matheson."

But will the effort simply distract and allow a Republican challenger to defeat Matheson?

Utah Democratic Party executive director Todd Taylor said he does not foresee any major impact by The Citizens' Candidate.

"We have dealt with movements like this continuously over the years," he said. "I think their effort is a little misguided because they should be focused on the other two congressional districts."

As for the results of the campaign, Taylor said he does not have a "crystal ball" but believes that the democratic process will work itself out with few major challenges for Matheson, at least from party progressives.

As Utah's only Democrat in Congress, Matheson faces a stiff fight every election but has increased his margin of victory, winning by a 63-35 percent margin in 2008.

e-mail: jsmith@desnews.com