The current representative from the district, Rep. Matt Gwynn, said he will step down after the 2026 Utah legislative session. He cited his daughter’s health as a main reason, as she suffered a traumatic brain injury after an auto-pedestrian crash.

That means someone else will step into the role of representing District 6, which covers Plain City, Willard, Perry, and parts of Farr West and Marriot-Slaterville, and Bishop decided he would put his name forward once again.

“When Rep. Matt Gwynn called me and told me he was not going to run again, I was first of all disappointed,” Bishop told the Standard-Examiner. “I thought he had been a good representative, but I also realized he’s a father and husband, and I understand what he’s doing and wish his family well. With an open seat, then I decided, with some encouragement, that I would run for it.”

He said that he believes that Northern Utah needs to have a strong voice in state government and that there are many issues that need to be addressed.

“I wanted to make sure that northern Utah is not forgotten in Salt Lake City, that the issues that are important to the constituents in Box Elder and in Weber county are going to be given a voice down in Salt Lake City,” Bishop said. “It’s important to me.

“The issues include things like the increased cost of living. The state can do something about that. Water issues are going to be extremely important in the future, as far as development and control of those water rights. In education, I think the legislature has made great strides in the last few years to increase compensation, but with that compensation there was always supposed to be the ideal that the amount of regulations and control over the educators, how the educators perform, and what parents can and cannot do, would be lessened. That half of the equation is yet to come in there. There are too many regulations and requirements that are put on public schools and charter schools.”

He also believes that the state needs to continue to take back authority from the federal government.

“We have an administration that is ready to work with us in getting more authority back to states and local government and and I still know people in Washington,” Bishop said. “I have those connections and I think they will be a help in making sure that the concepts of federalism do exist again. I want to see as we go forward that we always have the idea that government will change, but it will change upon constitutional principles. Those are still important to me.”

Bishop served as the U.S. representative for Utah’s 1st congressional district from 2003 to 2021 but before that he was a Utah State Representative from 1978-1994, including two years as Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives.

He said he looks forward to going back to where he started, but emphasized that he doesn’t plan to be in the position nearly as long.

“The last time I went to the legislature, I ended up staying 16 years,” Bishop said. “That is not going to happen this time. I have always kind of limited myself and retired voluntarily from the positions I’ve had. I’ll certainly do that this time, but I would like to spend maybe a couple of terms in the Utah legislature and end my political career where I began it.”

With the midterm vacancy left by the departure of Gwynn, the Republican Party delegates will pick the replacement to serve from March until the end of 2026. Bishop will then run for an open seat in the November 2026 election to begin serving in 2027.