GOP triumphs in Utah

At press time, a measure to impose a new, small sales tax to float a $150 million bond for open-space preservation was losing.

In Salt Lake County, the current small sales tax imposed to support the zoo, arts and parks appeared headed for reaffirmation.

"If these numbers hold up," said Jim Matheson Tuesday night as he led Swallow by 10 percentage points, "this is a substantial victory."

Some politicos say the 2nd District is more than 60 percent Republican. And Matheson may have pulled more than 30 percent of GOP voters in taking vast majorities of Democrats and independents. "It's gratifying and exceeded even my own expectations," he said.

The 2nd District contest was one of the most negative in recent history. More than $4 million — nearly $2 million from the national political parties — filled the airways and mailboxes with harsh attacks on Matheson and Swallow.

The Utah and national Republican parties put out TV and fliers criticizing Matheson for voting wrong on abortion, tax cuts and Medicare reform when he actually voted with President Bush and congressional Republicans in the most important votes on those issues.

On the other hand, Matheson and national Democrats ran adds criticizing Swallow on nuclear testing and voting during his Utah House career against protecting children — dubious claims as well.

So, does a big Matheson win mean Republicans won't run negative campaigns against him again?

"I can't speak for the Republican Party," said Matheson. "They put out the mailers. They said anything to beat me. I hope the state and national (GOP) take a long hard look at how they tried to smear my record, because I don't think it worked."

State GOP chairman Joe Cannon congratulated Matheson. Cannon, the older brother of Rep. Chris Cannon, said that ads orchestrated by the NRCC didn't work in Utah.

The Republican loss in the 2nd District "is highly candidate specific," said Joe Cannon, meaning Swallow just didn't catch on with district voters.

"I give Matheson a lot of credit. He's a likeable guy and converted his incumbency into a win," Joe Cannon said. Speaking about the national ad campaign and Swallow's campaign being influenced by national advice, "almost any targeted ads have to speak to the people in that district. You can't have a standard (national) template. And those (NRCC and Swallow) ads just didn't. They didn't sell John Swallow."

Swallow had said previously that should he lose Tuesday, he would not run against Matheson again in 2006. But in an interview Tuesday he said, "You never say never."

All in all, it was a busy day at Utah polling places.