Rep. Jim Matheson ekes out 6th term victory in Utah's 2nd congressional district

SALT LAKE CITY — The 2nd District congressional race between incumbent Democrat Jim Matheson and Republican challenger Morgan Philpot narrowed to a dead heat around midnight Tuesday before the incumbent pulled out a narrow victory, grabbing 51 percent of the vote.

Matheson said nationwide, the 2010 campaign was dominated nationwide by a wave of support by tea party activists and voters who were anti-incumbent. His campaign took on a tough environment but prevailed through the hard work of volunteers.

Matheson said his victory indicates that Utahns know him well.

"I'm an independent voice. I put Utah's agenda above politics and party," Matheson said.

Veteran pollster Dan Jones, who predicted Matheson winning by a 3 percent to 5 percent margin, said a Democratic victory in the 2nd District was a remarkable achievement, considering Republican Gov. Gary Herbert and Senator-elect Mike Lee each won by more than 60 percent.

"Mr. Philpot made a real run the last two weeks of the campaign, especially the last week," Jones said. The Republicans were energized and got the people out."

Matheson said the outcome was gratifying, particularly when the boundaries of his district were drawn "in a very partisan way," intended to boot him out of office.

Philpot, who did not concede defeat after unofficial results showed him with 49 percent of the vote, said he was going to stay up and watch the results. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep that much tonight," he said shortly before midnight before final results were tallied. "Who in the world is trying to call this race now? Look at those numbers."

In recent weeks, public opinion polls suggested Matheson's support among likely voters had slipped, but Jones said in mid-October that Philpot would be hard-pressed to overcome the 26-point difference in the poll results.

But in the most recent Deseret News-KSL-TV poll, Philpot had pulled within 12 points of Matheson, Utah's only Democratic member of Congress.

The race took a negative turn in the final weeks of the campaign, with Matheson unveiling a television advertisement and a radio ad that said Philpot had missed hundreds of votes while serving in the Utah Legislature, left office mid-term and moved out of state but continued to use his state- employee benefits.