Others who could be in the race on the GOP side include state Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper, who just lost to U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson in the 2nd Congressional District. There's John Swallow, who lost to Matheson twice, and a slew of other would-be congressmen.

All three redistricting plans being taken out for public comment have the southern part of Salt Lake County as the population base of the fourth seat.

And two of the plans — Plans I and J if you are watching closely — make Matheson's 2nd District more Democratic.

In heavily Republican Utah that may not be saying much — but Matheson won re-election three weeks ago with nearly 60 percent of the vote, his best-ever showing.

So it is clear that — at least until the 2011 normal redistricting — Matheson would be better off politically under two of the plans. That doesn't satisfy Utah Democratic Party Executive Director Todd Taylor, who says the quick redistricting now is just another example of a "corrupt system" run by the majority Utah Republicans.

Plan A — the third plan going out for comment — is the four-seat plan adopted by the lawmakers in 2001. Back then, legislators adopted a four-seat alternative because state lawyers were suing to get a fourth seat. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Utah, and so since then we've been electing three, not four, U.S. House members.

And Plan A does not necessarily help Matheson. In fact, it could hurt him politically because he — as he did in the 2001 redistricting plan — will get a whole bunch of new constituents.

If Utah gets a fourth seat in the lame-duck Congress, and there are new U.S. House elections in the spring, Matheson could face a bunch of GOP-leaning voters who have not had the chance of casting a ballot for him before.

But there are a lot of "ifs" that have to become "facts" before that happens.

Most likely, Congress will not act on the Utah/D.C. bill in December. And when Democrats take control in 2007, they could just decide to let things ride until the 2010 Census gives Utah another U.S. House seat.

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Deseret Morning News political editor Bob Bernick Jr. may be reached by e-mail at bbjr@desnews.com