Posted on 12/17/2013 11:16:25 PM PST by Olog-hai
U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, Utah’s only Democrat in Congress, announced Tuesday that he will not seek re-election, easing the way for Republicans to pick up another House seat in a solidly red state.
Matheson was expected to face a tough repeat challenge in 2014 from Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love, a Republican he narrowly defeated in 2012.
While Utah Democrats admitted Matheson’s decision not to run for an eighth term is a blow, they’re hoping it will set him up to challenge U.S. Sen. Mike Lee or Gov. Gary Herbert, both Republicans who are up for re-election in 2016. …
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He has a good shot at beating either Lee or the Governor..he’s clearly running for something in 2016, on the other hand Love has a real good shot at winning his seat in the house.
This is news. He does have a voting record and it is better than many so called conservative Republicans. But he is no Mike Lee.
Obviously not so much of a Conservative Record. Gets out while the getting is good... He is a Democrat and this is going to be a Republican election so yeah...get out!
He is a DEMOCRAT!
Rats jumping from the sinking ship.
I hope to see a lot more rats jumping off.
This practically hands this seat to Mia Love, black, female Republican. Dem’s poured outside money to keep Mia out in 2012 (she lost by about 500 votes), but Matheson probably saw the writing on the wall for 2014, and figured he would avoid tarnishing his name with a loss. Matheson remains electable when the winds are blowing his way - but that might not be the case in 2016 either (after 8 years of Obama stinking up the Dem brand).
Matheson was not scared out of the race..he is looking at the Senate. Remember he was reelected last time in the state giving Romney the highest margin of victory.
He looks at Hilary running in 2016 and sees an excellent chance of being the next senator.
This was not good news for Conservatives, a RINO will take Mathesons seat and a Dim will get Lee's seat in 2016...
How does quitting, giving up a seat to the GOP, and sitting on the sidelines for four years help Matheson? I actually live in this district - Mia seems like a fine candidate. Mike Lee is an excellent speaker and is earning kudos for standing up to Oamacare - he will be ok in 2016.
He did not quit, he will be in office until the expiration of his term in 2015. So he will be in good shape to run for Lee's seat in 2016.
Notice Lee's approval numbers? especially among the GOP in the state as a whole, they stink. The Utah establishment wants Lee out and if Leavitt or some big name establishment candidate cant take Lee out in the primary they will support Matheson in big enough numbers for him to win IMO. The Matheson name is political gold in Utah as you undoubtedly know. He's probably the only Dim that can win a statewide race there.
Mia is not a Conservative, one of Hatch’s to adviser's recently joined her campaign. If you like Hatch you will like Mia but she is not a conservative. I'm not saying this is bad news if you are an establishment Utah Republican but if you are a conservative it increases the chance that Lee will lose exponentially
I think you overstate the power of the Matheson name. Jim is bailing because he knows he won’t win again in 2014 (and he’s never won by overwhelming margins from the get-go). His brother Scott ran for Governor in 2004 and only got 41%. The late Bill Orton performed better in 2000.
If the GOP has the majority in the Senate going into 2016, I’d have to wonder why Jim Matheson would want to run (even with a divided GOP primary), as that will be a terrible year for a Dem to run in. I also find in dubious that Lee would lose under their convention system, given that Conservatives tend to dominate them. We shall see how things unfold...
He is not bringing home the bacon...
They want somebody like Hatch, and Matheson is a lot closer to Hatch than Lee in their view..
We’re bankrupt. Lee knows that. So should those businessmen.
Look at SLC they are just completing a quarter billion dollar Federal Courthouse thanks to Hatch. The NSA complex was a few billion in construction and another large federal payroll.
Lee is on the losing end of the economic argument in Utah and he most likely will be defeated either by a well known establishment type like Leavitt in the caucuses or Matheson in the general.
This is why the Republican Establishment is just as dangerous and as worthless as the Democrats. The day of reckoning is coming soon.
The fact that he is a democrat is a huge issue in that his voting record is more conservative than many Republicans. If he elects to run for the Senate he has the potential to beat Mike Lee. He won a close race against conservative Republican Mia Love.
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