Race Analysis
Like most western states, Utah’s is a heavily urban population, with most of its denizens living in Salt Lake City and its suburbs. The state’s three congressional districts divide up the Democratic-leaning city roughly evenly. The 2nd District – which previously took up most of central city, elected Republican Enid Greene Waldholtz to replace Democrat Karen Shepherd in 1994. Greene imploded under the weight of a scandal involving her husband and was replaced by Republican Merrill Cook. Cook, a munitions manufacturer, seemed to be as unstable as the product he sold, and lost a primary in 2000 to computer tycoon Derek Smith; Smith lost the general election to Democrat Jim Matheson, son of former Governor Scott Matheson.
Matheson has won the heavily Republican district by steadily-increasing margins. He has compiled a moderately conservative voting record in the House, and opposed the president’s health care bill. But a Democrat’s position in Utah is always tenuous; close observers will remember Democratic Representative Bill Orton, who was upset in 1996 to an unheralded opponent after President Clinton created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in the district. Matheson’s opponent, former state Representative Morgan Philpot, wouldn’t normally be in a position to defeat Matheson, but this year, in this district, anything can happen.
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