If Matheson doesn't get a good option for a House seat, he has zero to lose running for Senate.
The most Democratic House seat in Utah, even if it's not very Democratic, will certainly be more Democratic-friendly than an at-large U.S. Senate seat.
It is conceivable that he'd perceive the opposition in the Senate race as sufficiently weaker to even that out.
Would probably require the new House district to be purpose-drawn for some high profile candidate. Or all the House districts he could conceivably run in, even.
