"Of course I struggle with some of his votes, like the constitutional amendment on (same-sex) marriage," said state Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake, one of two openly gay Utah legislators. "But Jim's district is very different from my (Central City) district. I disagree with some of my (legislative) Democrats, but that doesn't mean I want them out of office.

"I'm not giving up on Jim; I hope to get him to come around on some issues," she said.

"There is some tension" between Matheson and liberal elements of his Utah party, said state Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, the other openly gay legislator. "But I would certainly rather have Jim in Congress than someone like LaVar Christensen," Matheson's GOP opponent this year.

Matheson said he does hear from liberals about some of his votes that they don't like. But, then again, he hears from some conservative Republicans on votes they don't like, as well.

He is a Democrat, Matheson said, and he does vote along party lines when the House picks its leadership. So if Democrats win control of the House, Matheson will vote for a Democrat for speaker.

Otherwise, "I'm more convinced than ever that Utahns don't like the polarized partisanship of Washington." And straight party-line votes are not appreciated, one way or the other, Matheson said.

Matheson takes pride in belonging to a House group called the "Blue Dog Democrats," a fiscally conservative group of a dozen or two minority party members. Ironically, Bishop says that should Republicans lose control of the House this year, the Blue Dogs may fare worse under a Democratic majority, for the Blue Dogs didn't vote often with "the liberal wing" of the party.

Don't be confused. Matheson is clearly not as conservative as either Bishop or U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon, a Republican representing the 3rd Congressional District.

Compared to Matheson's 45.8 percent conservative voting record, the journal said, Bishop votes conservative 83.5 percent of the time and Cannon votes conservative 81.8 percent of the time — putting both of them in the top ranks of House conservatives.

Yet even though Utah is a very conservative state, Dan Jones & Associate polls conducted for the Morning News and KSL-TV show that Matheson, the Democrat, is more popular among his constituents than either Bishop or Cannon is with theirs.

A July survey shows that 75 percent of Matheson's constituents approve of the job he is doing. That's a very good rating. Only 50 percent of Cannon's constituents approve of his job performance; only 48 percent of Bishop's.