But Matheson said he has not carefully studied that map — "I'd be glad to serve in any district they give me" — adding that he's still considering all his political options, including running for governor in 2010 instead of re-election to his House seat.

Ilir Zherka, director of DC Vote, a group pushing for a full-voting-rights seat for the district, said Tuesday, "The fight is far from over. We will do everything in our power to pass the D.C. Voting Rights Act in this Congress," and predicted it will still pass in this Congress.

Because the district is heavily Democratic and almost surely would elect a Democrat to Congress, heavily Republican Utah was added as a political counterweight to the bill (also because it just missed a fourth seat after the 2000 Census).

The bill would give Utah an extra House seat just for the 2010 election. How many representatives Utah would have after that depends on the official Census count next year. "But we clearly will get a fourth seat after 2010," Matheson said.

The delay dims the possibility of passing the bill in time to create a new Utah seat in time for next year's elections. Even if Congress did pass the bill, it will almost surely face court challenges that may not be resolved in time to allow an election for the seat.

The Utah delegation itself is split over the bill.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, contends the bill is unconstitutional. He said the Constitution allows House seats only for states, and that the District of Columbia is not a state. He said giving the district a vote would require a constitutional amendment or a bill to return residential portions of the district to Maryland.

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, voted against the bill this year, although he had supported it previously. He said he also became convinced it is unconstitutional. He faces re-election next year and had been attacked by some conservatives for his earlier support of the bill.

The last time the bill faced a House vote, Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, did not vote on the bill, saying he did that in protest of procedures used to bring it to the floor. Matheson voted for it and supports the Senate bill.

Sen. Orrin Hatch has fought for the current bill and says it is constitutional. Hatch has said that the Constitution also allows federal taxation and jury trials only for residents of states, but courts ruled such language also applies to the district — and believes Congress has the power to give it a full-voting-rights seat.

He also said that Congress allowed district residents from 1790 to 1800 to votes for senators and representatives in Maryland and Virginia, from which the district had been extracted. He said if Congress could allow district residents to vote for members of Congress then, it can do it now.

Another potential constitutional problem is the House leaders had pushed to require the fourth Utah seat to be elected in an at-large statewide election. Chaffetz said that may be unconstitutional because it means Utahns would each vote for two House members instead of just one like all other Americans.

Contributing: Bob Bernick Jr.

E-MAIL: lee@desnews.com