WASHINGTON -- Another Republican is seriously considering an in-party challenge to embattled Rep. Merrill Cook.
State Sen. Steven Poulton, R-Holladay-Cottonwood, told the Deseret News today that he has formed an exploratory committee to weigh his chances for unseating Cook, R-Utah.Mark Emerson, chief of staff to Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, has previously said he is also looking at challenging Cook. And several party sources said Jeff Wright, a 28-year-old venture capitalist, has also said he is looking at the race. State party officials said they have heard that R. Todd Neilson, who nearly defeated Cook in the 1996 GOP state convention, has decided not to make another run for the seat. Neilson could not be reached for comment.
Cook could be facing a crowded field at the state GOP convention to determine who will be the Republican nominee to face Democrat Jim Matheson.
"The concern that I and most people I talk to have is that the 2nd District may not be retainable by Rep. Cook," Poulton said Friday. "So there is some concern that we need to organize to retain the seat and represent the values important to our community to Washington."
Poulton, an insurance agent, was first elected to the state Senate in 1994. He is chairman of its Rules Committee.
He said that response to his potential candidacy has "been encouraging so far, very positive. But it is only exploratory right now, and we need to make a lot of contacts."
Several people encouraged him to run, he added, and he is considering it to keep the seat in Republican hands, to stop federal intrusion into state rights and to fight to protect the family and traditional values.
Connie Humphrey, administrative assistant to Cook, said Cook isn't concerned yet over the talk by other Republicans about challenging him.
"We'll do fine if we have a Republican challenger. We have the support of (congressional) leadership here and the party," she said. "We won't be surprised if someone files. But until someone does, we assume they won't."
Scott Simpson, executive director of the Utah Republican Party, said the party supports Cook unless another Republican formally files against him. "We would take a neutral position at that point."
He acknowledged, however, that avoiding a potentially costly and tough primary "is the best thing for Republicans," and the party at some point would work with any declared candidates to see if they could find ways to support just one candidate.
"If not, (state) convention delegates will decide" if a primary is held, he said.
Meanwhile, Emerson said today that his own explorations have moved him closer to filing against Cook. "All systems are go," he said. "We have a good team pulled together. We have a lot of support from delegates, many of whom I know from when I worked at the party" as state executive director.
He said, however, he is still measuring if he can win "with a positive, inspiring campaign. . . . I don't want this to get messy with anybody."
Cook has faced problems because former aides attacked him as a delusional tyrant who was so flustered by his last campaign that he didn't realize for several days that he had won.
Also, Cook is beset by allegations that he gave a job to an aide, Democrat Shari Holweg, after she threatened to blackmail him. But she says such stories spread because of a fake "ruse" phone call she made to see if her phone was bugged. She said spread of the rumor proves it was bugged.
Some Democrats, however, said Holweg approached the campaign of Cook's 1992 opponent, current Salt Lake City Mayor-elect Rocky Anderson, to spread in person the same rumors about Cook and to encourage Anderson to use them against Cook. He said he declined.