Former 9-term congressman Rob Bishop running for Utah legislative seat

Former U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop said he intends to return to Utah politics with a 2026 campaign for state Legislature to fill a House seat left vacant by the resignation of state Rep. Matt Gwynn.

Bishop, age 74, is running to work on the same problems he prioritized during nine terms representing northern Utah in Congress from 2003-2021, and eight terms as a state lawmaker from 1978-1994.

“It’s the issues that are driving me back there again,” Bishop told the Deseret News.

These include: managing growth in an intelligent way, decreasing regulatory workload for teachers, protecting northern Utah’s water rights and navigating the Legislature’s fight over redistricting authority.

Bishop believes his background in Washington, D.C. — where he served as top Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee — will empower him to counter federal overreach in Utah lands.

He also believes his time at the Utah Capitol, including one term as House Speaker, will position him as a “strong voice” for the area where he now lives, and represented in Congress, with “no learning curve.”

“It’s not just going back to reliving what happened in the past,” Bishop said. ”I am concerned about how we are going to structure a lot of the concerns that are still out there as the state moves forward.”

Since deciding not to run for reelection in 2020, Bishop has remained involved in Beehive State politics.

Bishop was appointed to a seat on the state’s redistricting commission — which he resigned in 2021 over disagreements related to how the body balanced urban-rural representation in its recommendations.

Bishop, who served as chair of the Utah Republican Party from 1997-2001, is also one of the sponsors of the state GOP’s ballot initiative to repeal Proposition 4 — the law behind the redistricting commission.

The seat Bishop hopes to fill, which covers the northwest portion of Weber County and parts of Box Elder County, including eastern Brigham City, is currently held by Gwynn, R-Farr West.

Gwynn announced on Monday he will not be seeking reelection in order to prioritize the recovery of his daughter, Ashlyn, who suffered serious injuries after being hit by a vehicle in September.

In a letter to House Speaker Mike Schultz, dated Dec. 19, Gwynn said he will not file as a candidate for House District 6 in the upcoming election and will resign following the next legislative session.

“It’s an end of an era. It’s going to be sad,” Gwynn told the Deseret News. “I’m hoping that my daughter recovers to a point where I can get back out there and do these other things that I enjoy.”

Gwynn, who is the Roy Police Chief, previously served on his city planning commission and council. Bishop called Gwynn a “wonderful representative” and an even better father and husband.

Before running for Congress, Bishop taught government and history at Box Elder High School. As with his time in the Legislature and Congress, Bishop said he will impose a term limit on himself.

He wouldn’t commit to “a specific term number” quite yet. But he said “two or three” terms will be enough to help “make sure that we continue to build what is necessary in Utah.”

“It would be kind of a nice circular ending — ending my political life where I began my political life in the state legislature,” Bishop said.