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SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said Thursday he is considering running for another term, but won't announce his decision until the end of this month.
The surprise reconsideration comes after Bishop said he was approached by a number of people to stay on, with reasons he said made sense.
"Usually when a candidate says people are urging him to run, those are relatives or paid staffers. I was really taken aback at the number or kinds of people asking me to reconsider for maybe one or two cycles," he said.
What's holding him back, he added, is the desire to safeguard his "personal veracity."
Bishop announced in 2012 he would not run for reelection once his ability to serve in a committee leadership position was exhausted — which would be 2020. The GOP has rules that its congressional representatives can't serve longer than six years in those positions.
Bishop was named chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources in 2014 and now serves as its ranking member.
"I already announced I was not going to (run). I would hope people not think of me as another political liar who does not keep his word. That does weigh on me," he said.
People pushing for him to stay in office for another election cycle, or two, have cited a variety of reasons, according to Bishop, who also toyed with a run for governor after Herbert leaves office.
Some candidates eying the 1st Congressional District have told him they'd be better positioned to run four years from now, not in 2020.
Other members in the defense community would like Bishop to stay on because he represents a "Utah" voice on the House Armed Services Committee, he said.
Still others, he said, have told him redrawing congressional boundaries — something the Utah Legislature will do in 2021 in time for the 2022 election — will be easier if there is not an incumbent holding the 1st Congressional District seat.
Bishop also stressed he never wanted to stay in office so long that he's physically or mentally exhausted — and he doesn't think he's reached that point yet.
"I still basically am enjoying my job," he said. "Internally, I want to do what I think is the right thing for the state of Utah. I don’t want people to think I am reconsidering because I have an ego and I think I am indispensable. I don’t do that."
