Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Richard Piatt ReportingCongressman Jim Matheson is not counting on the President's declining political popularity to help him in this year's election. He says he still considers his race for the second district 'a major challenge'.
Indeed, the second District---which includes Southern Utah and the eastern-middle part of the state---is so heavily Republican that Matheson says he is counting on a close race this year.
That's in spite of a recent national Survey USA poll showing President Bush is getting 36-percent approval rating. Sixty-percent of respondents say they disapprove of the job he's doing. Utahns give the president a 55-percent job approval rating. That's the highest in the nation, but it's below past polls.
Today Matheson told a group college students he isn't taking anything for granted this year. In fact, he's expecting a tough fight.
So far, three Republicans have signed up to challenge Matheson: State Representative Levar Christensen, Kris Loundsbury of Saint George and Joe Tucker of Lehi.
