Shift in House control hurt or help Utahns?

LaVar Christensen is clearly more conservative than Jim Matheson. But answers from both 2nd Congressional District candidates to a Deseret Morning News questionnaire greatly differ on only one point: Whether Democrats winning control of the U.S. House will bring disaster to Utah and the United States.

Christensen, a state GOP House member from Draper, paints a dismal picture should Democrats win control in the Nov. 7 midterm elections.

Matheson hopes for more fiscal conservatism and reasoned approaches to a number of America's challenges — the United States may gain, not suffer, from a change in power in the U.S. House.

Deseret Morning News graphic Candidate Q & A: Jim Matheson Requires Adobe Acrobat.

National political pundits predict that Democrats will win control of the 435-member House. Republicans hold a 15-seat majority. Democrats will win at least 20 GOP seats, maybe as many as 40, political observers have said recently.

If that happens, Christensen predicts "abandonment of Iraq," higher gasoline prices and "declining moral standards." A U.S. House led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi "of San Francisco" will "set in motion a dangerous shift in the direction of our country."

A Democratic majority in the House will "endlessly go after the president, raise taxes, eliminate our missile defense system, deny access to federal lands and harm oil production here.

Deseret Morning News graphic Candidate Q & A: LaVar Christensen Requires Adobe Acrobat.

Matheson, the three-term Democratic incumbent in the 2nd District, said should his party win House control: "I would hope for more balanced budgets," the end for funding for design and development of new nuclear weapons and a comprehensive energy policy that "weans us from dependence on foreign oil."

The two men also differ on stem-cell research. Matheson voted for expanding stem-cell use for research, while Christensen stands with President Bush's more restrictive approach to what scientists say could be breakthrough treatments for all kinds of diseases and nerve injuries.

Both men supported the United States' invasion of Iraq.

Matheson is against "an arbitrary deadline" for removing U.S. troops; he opposes immediate withdrawal. "We need an honest assessment on what is working and not working."

Christensen says we must "finish the job and be victorious ... complete the liberation" of the nation.

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com