Republican Burgess Owens is beefing up his campaign staff for the stretch run in Utah’s 4th Congressional District. Owens has added political veteran Michael Clement to his team. Clement, a graduate of the University of Utah, unsuccessfully ran for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives earlier this year.
Clement is joining the Owens organization to head up field operations for the campaign according to Adam Jones of Red Rock Strategies.
“Due to the campaign’s growth, we’ve been able to hire additional staff. We’ve hired three new field directors to assist with our ground game and have brought on Michael to lead those efforts. No one has been fired or replaced, we are just a growing campaign,” he said.
The outside help comes at a crucial time in the campaign to unseat Utah’s lone Democrat in Congress, Rep. Ben McAdams. Both candidates and outside groups are spending millions of dollars on advertising in the district, and ballots will be mailed to voters in less than two weeks.
The first debate between McAdams and Owens is scheduled for Oct. 12.
Clement could not be reached for comment, but an online biography says he served as deputy director of faith engagement for the Republican National Committee during the 2016 presidential campaign. He also was a political specialist for Republican Linda McMahon’s unsuccessful 2010 U.S. Senate campaign. Clement also worked with the Republican National Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm for Senate Republicans in 2007. Back in Utah, he was the campaign manager for businessman Molonai Hola when he ran for Salt Lake City mayor in 2003 against Rocky Anderson.
Oftentimes a staff shakeup with less than two months to go before Election Day is a sign of a campaign in trouble, but veteran Republican consultant Chuck Warren says that’s likely not the case. Warren has known Clement as a friend for more than a decade and called his hiring a terrific move.
“Michael is just one of the good guys in a business full of people full of crap and willing to stab you in the back,” Warren said. “He is the consummate professional. He will make sure the t’s are crossed and the i’s dotted for Burgess.”
The tight contest is considered to be one of the closest congressional races in the country. McAdams defeated Republican Rep. Mia Love by fewer than 700 votes in 2018. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated the matchup between McAdams and Owens as a “Toss Up.”
The Salt Lake Tribune recently reported that Owens' nonprofit group, Second Chance 4 Youth, raised more than $108,000 in donations during 2019, but only 27% of that went toward charitable programs. None of the money went toward helping incarcerated youths, which is the mission of the organization.
Owens has also courted controversy through his numerous media appearances. Last week he appeared as a guest on an obscure podcast that has promoted the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory. Owens did not discuss QAnon during the show, but he did ask for donations to his campaign from listeners.
Tribune columnist Robert Gehrke contributed to this report.
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