On average, House Democrats voted with their caucus on such votes 93 percent of the time over the past eight years. Matheson's score was almost 20 percent lower.

Republicans in the Utah delegation, as expected, sided with their party and president much more often than Matheson.

In presidential support votes, Rep. Chris Cannon voted with Bush 89 percent of the time, and Rep. Rob Bishop supported him in 83 percent of such votes. The average for House Republicans was 88 percent — so Bishop was below average and Cannon was above it (although he lost the primary election to an even more conservative opponent, Jason Chaffetz).

In such votes in the Senate, Sen. Bob Bennett voted with Bush 92 percent of the time, and Sen. Orrin Hatch supported him in 91 percent of the votes. The average for Senate Republicans was 88 percent — so both Utah senators were above that. (Bennett's score tied for sixth highest, and Hatch tied for 12th highest among Senate Republicans.)

On "party unity" votes, both Hatch and Bennett voted with majorities of their party 93 percent of the time — both higher than the 90 percent average for Senate Republicans. They tied for the second highest such percentage among Senate Republicans.

Both Cannon and Bishop voted with their party 97 percent of the time — again, both higher than the 90 percent average for House Republicans.

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com