3 Utah congressmen report contributions

WASHINGTON — There's a saying in Washington that fund-raising for the next campaign starts the day after winning an election, and for Utah's congressional incumbents it seems to be true.

All three of Utah's House members received contributions for the 2008 election cycle, based on Federal Election Commission reports filed this week.

Campaign financing rules required "year-end" reports to be filed Jan. 31, tallying any money received or spent from Nov. 28, 2006, through Dec. 31, 2006, which all counts toward the next election.

A separate "post-general" report that was due in December covered any money received just before and just after the 2006 election.

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, has received $7,386 in contributions for the 2008 cycle so far, according to the Jan. 31 filing. He has $301,734 cash on hand, which is largely made up from funds left over from his last campaign.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, received an additional $4,650 during the last few weeks of 2006, and has almost $105,000 cash on hand.

Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, got about $8,500 in contributions, bringing his cash-on-hand total to roughly $13,000.