SALT LAKE CITY—President Barack Obama has nominated a former Democratic nominee for Utah governor to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.
Scott Matheson Jr. was nominated to the Denver-based court on Wednesday.
Matheson is the son of Utah’s last Democratic governor and is a former U.S. attorney for Utah. His brother, Jim Matheson, is Utah’s lone Democratic member of Congress.
Scott Matheson Jr. unsuccessfully challenged former Gov. Jon Huntsman in 2004.
Matheson is the former dean of the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law and currently holds the Hugh B. Brown Presidential Endowed Chair at the school.
The 10th Circuit covers Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming, plus the portions of Yellowstone National Park in Montana and Idaho.
Matheson’s nomination is subject to U.S. Senate confirmation.
