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SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Mike Lee's former chief of staff, Boyd Matheson, has returned to the role after the recent resignation of Neil Ashdown, who was a top aide to former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., for personal reasons.
When Neil Ashdown initially stepped down as the Utah Republican senator's chief of staff last month "to deal with some personal family matters that need my attention," he said he hoped the situation would only be temporary.
But Matheson said after Ashdown came back to Utah, he realized he needed to leave the job. Matheson said Ashdown is still "part of Team Lee" and that there were "absolutely zero" political reasons for Ashdown's departure.
Matheson had served as Lee's chief of staff until Ashdown's appointment last December, which came as the senator was making "strategic changes" to his top staff in preparation for the 2016 election.
That included making Matheson a senior adviser on both Lee's senior staff and campaign. At the time, Lee was seen as facing a Republican challenger next year. Now, Huntsman and other leading Republicans have joined Lee's campaign.
