Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love is laying the groundwork for a second challenge to U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, Roll Call reported on Saturday.
Love, who lost to the state’s sole Democrat in the Utah congressional delegation, spoke at the annual gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.
She addressed the challenges of her 1-point loss in the 2012 campaign against U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, but she didn’t directly discuss her candidacy in her remarks.
“We faced great challenges during the course of the campaign, yet we remained positive,” she said.
She instead spoke of her “cause for confidence” in the future of the United States and the conservative movement.
“We just need Americans to believe again, not in big government, but in the ability of the American people. Working together, we can restore confidence to this great nation.”
Roll Call reports that Love has hired former state Republican party chairman Dave Hansen, who managed the re-election campaign of Sen. Orrin Hatch.
“We are looking at it very seriously,” Love told Roll Call. “We are trying to get people engaged and going, and let them know that we have to start early so that we are not starting from behind.”
Love is reaching out to donors now, some 20 months before the election, and putting in place a campaign team far earlier than last cycle. Love didn’t formally enter the wide, 4th District Republican field until January 2012. She shocked Republicans by emerging from the April state party convention with the nomination in hand, Roll Call reports.
As the nominee, Love quickly gained national attention — including a coveted speaking slot at the Republican National Convention — for her unique background and potential to become the first black Republican woman in Congress, according to Roll Call.
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