 Shea became chairman of Utah Democratic Party in 1983 and chaired state presidential campaigns of Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, and Bill Clinton.he ran for Governor of Utah in 1992 (lost in the primary by a margin of 57% to 43% to Stewart Hanson, who finished third behind Republican winner Mike Leavitt and Independent Merrill Cook in the general election), and was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate against Orrin Hatch in 1994 (lost by 68.8%-28.3%).Shea served as A Commissioner on the Gore Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, 1996-97 which investigated the TWA 800 crash of August 1996.