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Get ready for a rematch in Utah's 4th Congressional District.
Democrat Doug Owens announced his candidacy early Tuesday in an email to supporters and a Facebook post, both of which stuck to the same themes as his 2014 showdown with Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah.
He emphasized his long ties to the state, while focusing on the issues of education and middle-class economics.
"I grew up here, and I know Utah is a unique place," he said in his email. "I'm running because I believe we deserve a representative who puts Utah first."
Owens, the son of the late Democratic Congressman Wayne Owens, lost to Love by roughly 4,000 votes last November, but the open-seat race tightened in the final weeks and his showing impressed political pundits.
Love was the favorite throughout the contest. She held a massive fundraising advantage, was well known from her previous run for Congress and held a historic status.
With her victory, she became the first black Republican woman to win a seat in Congress.
And yet almost immediately after the race, Owens said he would consider a second run.
He believes he can beat Love in a conservative district that includes the western half of Salt Lake and Utah counties and portions of central Utah — and so do Democratic leaders.
"I'm very excited that Doug Owens has decided to throw his hat in the ring again," said Peter Corroon, chairman of the Utah Democratic Party. "I think we'll see a very close race."
Corroon based that prediction on an analysis of voter turnout. In 2014, a midterm election with low voter participation, Owens received the votes of 20 percent of Republicans, 68 percent of independents and 98 percent of Democrats.
In a presidential year, Utah normally logs a big increase in voters, particularly among independents. If Owens can win the same percentages, Corroon believes he would defeat Love.
Republicans dispute that.
"I am confident that when the dust settles next November [2016], not only will Congresswoman Love be re-elected, but she will be re-elected with a significantly larger majority," said Utah Republican Party Chairman James Evans. "If the Democrats think they are going to turn out more favorable voters in Utah with Hillary Clinton at the top of the ticket, they are living in a dream world."
Owens hopes that being better known will help him with voters and with donors. He wants to close the fundraising gap, which is why he announced this week, so he could aggressively raise money. He said he will have a more formal campaign kickoff this fall.
There's almost no chance of him matching Love dollar for dollar. The congresswoman is an aggressive fundraiser backed by thousands of small donors scattered throughout the nation, and now she has access to the political-action committees of companies, which tend to give to incumbents. She had $619,000 in available funds at the end of June.
Corroon suggested that Owens should remain as aggressive as he was in the first campaign, when he repeatedly labeled Love as "extreme" and slammed her positions on education, including a comment that she wanted to eliminate the federal Department of Education.
"He certainly needs to let people know who he is, but it is also important to point out the positions of Mia Love," Corroon said. "Since Mia Love has been elected, we haven't seen her do much of anything."
Love's campaign strategist, Dave Hansen, said she has been active on the Financial Services Committee and engaged in major issues, including education.
"She's off to a very good start in Congress," he said.
Hansen dismisses the idea that an increase in turnout could hand Owens a win.
"Too many candidates base their strategy on what happens in the past election. That's not the situation," he said. "She is an incumbent."
And, in 2014, Love and Hansen decided not to go on the attack. That won't be the case this time, he said. "It will be a more aggressive campaign on our part."