David Leavitt, a former county prosecutor and the brother of Health and Human Services Secretary and former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt (R), will officially file with the state elections office for the 3rd district race on Thursday morning.

Leavitt, who already had filed his declaration of candidacy last spring with the Federal Election Commission, is one of several Utah Republicans looking to knock off Rep. Chris Cannon (R), who has found himself facing tough challenges from the right in recent cycles.

According to their end-of-year FEC filings, Leavitt outraised Cannon by about $20,000 in the last quarter of 2007 and ended the year with slightly more in cash on hand. Cannon also was carrying $180,000 in debt while Leavitt had none.

A third Republican in the race, Jason Chaffetz, ended the year with just $9,000 less cash on hand than Cannon. Chaffetz is a former chief of staff to Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) and is also known as a former placekicker for the Brigham Young University football team.
— John McArdle