Sometimes, politics is just in the blood.
Jim Matheson, son of the late Gov. Scott M. Matheson, formally announced his 2nd Congressional District bid Wednesday.
It was not a surprise.
Matheson has been running since mid-1999. He's already raised $230,000, been courting Washington, D.C., Democratic heavyweights in the nation's capital and has effectively squashed any Democratic opposition.
Matheson worked on his father's campaigns, as well as those of former 2nd District Rep. Wayne Owens. This will be the first time his name is on the ballot, however.
He doesn't hide his well-known political name, either.
Wednesday, the 40-year-old energy consultant announced his campaign from his mother's east-side home, former First Lady Norma Matheson at his side. (Gov. Matheson died of a rare cancer in 1990.)
John Kennedy used to say that it was his older brother, Joe, who was supposed to run for president, not he. And many Utah Democrats believed that Jim's older brother, Scott Jr., would be the first of the Mathesons' four children to get into elective politics. But while Scott Jr. toyed with running for the Senate and governor at times, he's now firmly ensconced as dean of the University of Utah Law School.
And so it is up to Jim to seek office.
"My education and career have taken me throughout the state of Utah and throughout the United States. But what I offer to the people of this (Salt Lake) valley began right here at home," Matheson said on the front lawn of his childhood home near Hogle Zoo at the mouth of Emigration Canyon.
"I learned much of what I needed to know right here. I not only learned math and science and English at the kitchen table in this house, I learned about right and wrong, family and friendship, duty and responsibility. I learned about public service. I learned about public service from the best there was and the best there is — Scott and Norma to most of you. Dad and Mom to me."
He said he is a Matheson. "But Matheson is more than a last name. It stands for integrity. It represents a reverence for public service and thoughtful approach to issues. It means that I will say what I believe, not just what people want to hear. It means I will focus on the next generation, not the next election."
He will spend the people's money in keeping with his Scottish heritage, Matheson said. "I am cautious. I am frugal." He will oppose both big tax cuts and big spending.
He won't play politics with federal education funds, he said. Education "is a wise public investment.
"We need to pursue a fair, level playing field in the market for prescription drugs. I will fight for equity in prescription drug pricing."
Matheson said no candidate can predict what he will face in Congress.
"Nor can any voter expect to agree with a candidate on every issue. But what a candidate can promise and what voters should demand is a thoughtful approach to issues. My father set an example for me. He loved to take on the tough decisions, and he was always looking to the future."
Matheson attended East High School, received an undergraduate degree in government from Harvard University and an MBA in finance from UCLA.
He is married to the former Amy Herbener, and they have a 15-month-old baby boy, Wil. He has lived in Salt Lake City since 1987, when he returned after earning his graduate degree and for the past several years operated the Matheson Group, an energy consulting firm that he shut down last year when he started fund-raising full-time for the 2nd Congressional District race.
He faces Rep. Merrill Cook, R-Utah, and two other GOP candidates, venture capitalist Jeff Wright and Mark Emerson, former chief-of-staff to Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah. No Democrat is expected to seriously challenge Matheson for his party's nomination.