ST. GEORGE – Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) has some big decisions to make after the district he serves was split into three separate districts when the legislature approved the new boundaries.
Matheson said he is looking into different Congressional districts, but also looking at running on a statewide level as either Senator or governor.
“Then I get to represent everybody, so you never know,” he said. “I’m still thinking about what I’m going to do.”
A new poll by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee showed Matheson was trailing Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) by only six points.
But Matheson said whether he will run for Senate or another office has nothing to do with Hatch.
“I don’t run against people, I run for an office,” he said. “… I run to win. What other people are thinking about doing, that doesn’t affect my decision.”
Matheson spoke on the Perspectives Morning Show on Fox News Radio this morning and said the maps could have been handled better. (The taped show will air tomorrow morning on 1450 AM and 96.7 FM)
“There’s clearly a better way to do it,” he said.
Matheson suggested looking to Iowa who uses an independent commission to redraw their maps.
“Generally, both the Republicans and Democrats complain about what the independent commission in Iowa does, which tells me they are probably doing the right thing,” he said.
Matheson took time to discuss why he believes the Utah caucus system needs to be changed, and how he doesn’t believe it represents the public.
“A tiny fraction of our citizens deciding who’s on the ballot,” he said. “I think the caucus system greatly diminishes the system.”
For more, tune into Fox News Radio Thursday morning from 6 to 9 a.m.
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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2011, all rights reserved.
Good interview with Jim Matheson. It’s interesting that he supports the “top two” primary. We were living in Washington State when Supreme Court decisions forced the state parties to change their primaries. They chose a “modified” version of “top two”, mainly because it allowed people to vote for candidates for offices (state auditor, county sheriff, etc.) that don’t need to be partisan in the first place. It makes parties almost meaningless. It’s also known as the “Louisiana” primary because it kept one party in power for a century. It means anyone can call themselves a Democrat or a Republican, no matter what they support, and the party mechanism has no control over who is on the ballot. This destroys parties, because no one wants to spend time and money supporting candidates who do not share their main political attitudes. It’s no worse than what we have now, but it has some huge problems.