Comments about ‘Democratic officeholders support Rep. Jim Matheson's re-election bid’

This is what panic looks like.

It is no surprise that Matheson is barely holding onto his seat. The Democratic leadership of Utah is held hostage by Matheson because their reelections rely on his money and endorsement. Sad, and true.

But the voting public has had enough. District 2 wants representation and Claudia Wright is gaining ground as more and more people get to know her and see that she is a viable, courageous and qualified alternative to a man who only votes with his party on key issues 40% of the time. Google "Matheson Washington Post Key" to see for yourself.

Matheson is no Democrat, and Utah knows it. The voters of District 2 will make it clear enough, and soon! I very much look forward to seeing a real Democrat, which is exactly what Claudia Wright embodies, take leadership in District 2 and representing Utah in our national forum; Matheson is an embarassment at this point, and a liability. We can't allow him to continue to sabotage federal and local legislation in our (Democrats') name.

I may have to hold my nose to vote for him again, but at least he is a dino not a rino. I am just very conflicted about voting for any incumbent. I don't know of one who deserves reelection. I believe we, here in Utah, are seeing panic (as Majority said) from Mr. Bennett and Mr. Matheson. I think over the next 6 to 8 years we will see a lot more of this panic.

I have had enough of Matheson--my biggest problem with him is that he accepts so much money from big corporations that he now represents corporate interests well above the interests of the people. Claudia, on the other hand, is free from this corruption, and will be able to decide what is actually best for the people without having to sell out just to keep the corporate donations coming in. My vote is most definitely with her.

The progressive challenge to Matheson started long before his health care vote. It was based on his votes against workers (NAFTA, CAFTA), against LGBT people (DOMA), against young people (ACES), and for runaway military spending (Iraq War). He has consistently represented the interests of big corporate donors and ignored his constituents. The only thing he brings to the Democratic party is dirty money, which is how he bought the support of these politicos.

I agree with the "panic" comment. This is the first time Matheson is facing any real opposition from within his party, and he is scared.
What has he promised to the Democrats to get their support? He has a boatload of funds from corporate interests so he can make promises not many other can keep.
And I agree with him we do need to look at his other votes. He is out of touch with the mainstream Democratic party. You don't have to look far to see how far he is from the Democratic platform.
It is about time the Democrats in Utah step up and vote for the representation we deserve, not this half hearted demo in name only!

Matheson is not Demo enough, Bennett is not Repub enough, what a silly world we live in these days.

The beauty of this comment string is that it illustrates the absolute lack of mainstream representation found on comment boards. Nearly 70% of 2nd District voters are happy with Rep. Matheson. Those who are can't stand him: 1)Extreme left-wing nut jobs who would rather have a rubber stamp liberal, but will get a rubber stamp conservative if they boot him out; and, 2) Extreme right-wing nut jobs who would vote in Super Dell over Matheson because he had an "R" next to his name. Fortunately for our state, those two "nutty" constituencies represent less than 30% of the electorate...although 90% of the 30% (Did that math confuse you yet Cletus?) is on the Republican side. Look, Matheson is the best elected official we have. The best evidence of that is that the extremists on both sides can't stand him. It is those with such extreme viewpoints that have put our country in such a terrible mess. Vive le Central!!

Too bad that he's not a democrat.

lJim Matheson's candidacy was soundly rejected at the mass meeting in Rebecca Chavez-Houk's district; her endorsement of him today is a conspicuous disregard of her constituents' loudly-voiced mandate at that meeting: we want change! We want a new US Congressperson! What caused her to endorse Jim Matheson in direct contradiction of this Utah citizens' mandate? We don't want politics as usual; we want a candidate who will represent Democratic ideals, and we have that candidate in the Democrat Claudia Wright, who is running against Matheson.

Claudia Wright speaks on issues that have been blandly ignored by Matheson: medicare for all(Ted Kennedy's vision); bank reform (Matheson voted for the bank bailout); an amendment to the Supreme Court decision granting corporations the rights of personhood; public financing for all elections (Matheson's 2008 campaign was financed by special interests, in particular the insurance and healthcare corporations, to which he has shown himself accountable); labor reform (Matheson has voted against all labor reform bills in Congress); equal rights for all Utahns (Matheson voted for the Defense of Marriage Act). Matheson has ignored the issues Democrats in Utah have rallied for; Wright addresses them courageously

A vote for jim is a vote for Nancy Pelosi. We need a new face. Jim is not the moderate democrat he used to be. He is liberal and over the past few years has voted that way. His vote against the health care bill was convenient timing for the upcoming reelection race. He knew the healthcare bill would be passed so it didnt matter which way he voted. We need a republican in office who represents the second district!

If you think about the voting demographics in the 2nd District, the reality (and problem for disenchanted Democrats) is this:

— If Claudia Wright wins the Convention or Primary election, the end-result will be a sure win for the Republican challenger.

— If Jim Matheson wins the Convention or Primary election, the end-result will most likely be a win for Jim Matheson.

This is a Congressional District that has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+15. Translation: it generally votes very strong Republican. There is no way a candidate, who is more liberal than Jim Matheson, will win this District over the Republicans — that is reality.

Bottom Line: The Democrats have two choices — do you want to hold the seat for the Democrats by choosing Jim Matheson or turn it over to the Republicans be selecting Claudia Wright?

Matheson says he has cast 6000 votes and wants to be judged by his body of work, not just one or two votes. However, some votes are more important than others: the vote to authorize a government take-over of 1/6 of the economy is more important than a vote to name a post office.

If we can accept that as true, he should be judged by some votes more than others. While he has to vote for queen nancy as speaker if he wants any desirable committee assignments, I appreciate his vote against Obamacare. The latter almost compensates for the former.