Jim Matheson

From SuperDelegates.org - Information about the 2008 DNC Superdelegates

Source: Wikipedia

Background

James David "Jim" Matheson (born March 21, 1960) is a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Utah's 2nd congressional district since 2001 (map). Matheson, a Democrat, represents a district in which President George W. Bush won 67% of the vote in 2004.

Early life and career

Matheson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and obtained his B.A. from Harvard University and his M.B.A from the University of California, Los Angeles. His father, Scott M. Matheson, served as Governor of Utah from 1977 to 1985, and his brother, Scott Matheson Jr., was the 2004 Democratic nominee for Governor. Matheson is also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Political career

In 2000, Matheson was tapped to run in the 2nd District. The Democrats had high hopes of taking the seats in part because the 2nd has historically been friendlier to Democrats than the rest of Utah and in part because two-term incumbent Merrill Cook had a reputation for erratic behavior. The prospect of losing the seat frightened district Republicans enough that Cook was unseated in the primary by computer executive Derek Smith. However, Matheson defeated Smith handily, taking 56 percent of the vote even as George W. Bush won the district with 57% of the vote.

During the 2000s round of redistricting, the Republican-controlled state legislature made significant changes to Matheson's district's boundaries. The old 2nd had been located entirely in Salt Lake County since the 1980s round of redistricting; Salt Lake County has historically been much more liberal than the rest of Utah. The legislature drew all or part of 14 mostly rural counties in eastern and southern Utah into the 2nd. They were only connected to Salt Lake City by a narrow band of territory in Utah County. The new district was approximately six points more Republican than the old one. As expected, the 2002 race was very close. Matheson defeated State Representative John Swallow by only 1,600 votes, due almost entirely to trouncing Swallow by 25,800 votes in Salt Lake County. He then proceeded to work his new, mostly rural district well, and it paid off in 2004 when he defeated Swallow again--this time by a convincing 12-point margin even as Bush won the state handily. In 2006, he defeated State Representative LaVar Christensen by 22 points.

Like most Utah Democrats, Matheson is fairly conservative by national party standards. Matheson is co-chairman of the Blue Dog Coalition, a fiscally and socially conservative group of 44 Democrats in the House. Among other significant votes, Matheson voted against raising the federal debt limit; as well as against both Republican and Democratic budgets that do not reduce the deficit. Matheson, a former energy industry businessman, voted against authorizing the construction of new oil refineries. In March, 2007, Matheson was one of 14 Democrats who voted against a bill that would require President George W. Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq by September 1, 2008.

Endorsed June 5 - [1]

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Get more background on this superdelegate: Superdelegate Transparency Project's profile of Jim Matheson.