Jason Chaffetz

About Jason Chaffetz

Jason Chaffetz (born March 26, 1967) is a Utah politician who is is the Republican nominee for the 3rd Congressional District in Utah. Chaffetz emerged victoriously when he almost won the Republican nomination from sitting Congressman Chris Cannon at the Republican State Convention when he won 59 percent of the delegates in May 2008. Since the threshold needed was 60 percent, this forced Cannon and Chaffetz into a primary race for the nomination to be held on June 24, 2008. Chaffetz has criticized Cannon on the issue of illegal immigration. He has previously worked as Jon Huntsman campaign manager and chief of staff. In this position, Jason was responsible for interacting with cabinet secretaries, advisors to President Bush, and even Vice President Dick Cheney. He also served as Mr. Huntsman's Campaign Manager, building a successful statewide grassroots organization to unseat an incumbent Governor. In November 2005 Jason again joined the private sector managing his own company, Maxtera Utah, serving client companies to achieve their corporate communications and marketing needs. He defeated incumbent Chris Cannon by a margin of 60% to 40%.

Mr. Chaffetz attended Brigham Young University (BYU) on an athletic scholarship where he was the starting place kicker on the BYU football team in 1988 & 1989. Jason still holds the BYU individual records for most PATs attempted (10), most PATs made (10), and most consecutive PATs made (10). He also worked on Michael Dukakis's 1988 campaign for president. Chaffetz converted to Mormonism while at BYU. He also has worked as a spokesman for Nu Skin International.

After graduating from BYU with a BA in Communications, Mr. Chaffetz joined the local business community and has been very active in various community organizations. Last year Mr. Chaffetz was appointed by the Governor, and unanimously confirmed by the Utah State Senate, as a Trustee for Utah Valley State College. He has also served as the President, BYU Cougar Club-Utah County, member of the Highland City Planning Commission, and as the Chairman for the Utah National Guard Adjutant General Review.