"He talks against a pay raise and then spends tens of thousands of dollars on taxpayer-funded 'campaign' mailers," charged Swallow.

But they were not campaign pieces, says Heyrend. A special congressional committee, one for Democrats, one for Republicans, approves each frank mailer. And Matheson's pieces were approved by the committee, said Heyrend, as the rules require.

The content is closely controlled, she said. Even the size of the congressman's picture on a brochure must meet guidelines.

The mailings are purely informational, said Matheson. "They can not ask for your vote, and none did," said Matheson.

Only one mailing went throughout Matheson's 2nd Congressional District, said Heyrend, an 8 1/2- by 11-inch four-page piece whose front page asks: "Is Your Family Safe from Radiation Exposure?" The four-color mailer talks about Matheson's attempts to stop renewed nuclear warhead testing in Nevada.

Matheson also sent out several targeted pieces, to different geographic areas or to different groups, like veterans or teachers.

One was entitled "Congressman Matheson, Making a Difference For Utah Schools;" another, "Legislative Update: Honoring Our Veterans and Supporting Our Troops."

Because some of those different groups' mailings may have overlapped with the general nuclear-testing brochure mailing, a few 2nd District residents may have gotten two or more mailings in June and July, and thus some may think Matheson was mailing more congressional pieces than normal, said Heyrend. "But that is not the case."

Cannon spokeswoman Meghan Riding said the 3rd District GOP representative sent out a number of group letters and one mass mailing in Salt Lake County — for a total expense of around $20,000.

The Salt Lake County mailing alone went to 65,000 people, Riding said. The 2004 use of the frank "is typical spending for us" in a year, Riding said.

Using official newsletters "is an important way to communicate with constituents," said Matheson. "As far as I know, (his 2004 mailings) look the same as mailings I've done in the past" when he was not seeking re-election, Matheson said.

The Utah Legislature in 2001 redrew Matheson's 2nd District, making it larger than the state of Alabama, which has seven U.S. House members, he noted. Mailings throughout such a large geographic area is an effective way to communicate with far-flung constituents, he said.

His mailings do contain a response section. For example, on the nuclear testing brochure there is a part that says: "If you would like more information about Congressman Matheson's efforts to protect Utahns from the possibility of nuclear weapons testing, complete and return this form." It then gives his congressional address and an office fax number.

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com