By Jacob Crosby
jacob@newsroom.byu.edu
Jim Matheson gave Utah Democrats at least one reason to celebrate early Wednesday morning, Nov. 8.
With over half of the precincts reporting for the 2nd Congressional District, Matheson was ahead of Republican opponent Derek Smith 55.5 percent to 41.5 percent.
A bomb threat at the Salt Lake City/County building delayed results from coming out until after 11 p.m. Early exit polls showed Matheson in the lead.
Matheson addressed supporters at the Salt Palace amid chants of 'Go Jim go!'
'I've been beaten up, bumped around and bruised in this campaign. But I am as strong as ever,' he said.
Matheson said his campaign went exactly the way he hoped it would.
'I wanted to run a campaign that gave people a reason to vote for me,' he said.
Matheson said his first priority in Congress is true fiscal responsibility.
'We must pay down the national debt and sure up Social Security and Medicare,' he said. 'I'll be a problem solver who looks toward the future rather than to the next election.'
Matheson held only a five-point lead over the weekend in a Deseret News/KSL-TV survey conducted by Dan Jones & Associates.
Jones, who has polled in Utah for 25 years, said a number of those interviewed by telephone for the survey found Smith's negative advertising offensive.
Laurie Maddox, press secretary for the Smith campaign, said nothing their campaign did was negative.
'Our ads were positive,' Maddox said. 'This was a fight for control of the House, and in a fight some groups get very passionate. We did not necessarily endorse every group.'
Alyson Heyrand, press secretary for the Matheson campaign, said Smith's negative ads created outrage among voters.
'When those ads started running, we had lots of phone calls from voters who were outraged by the negative tone. We tried to run a positive, issue-oriented campaign,' Heyrand said.
Regardless of tone, the campaign was expensive for both candidates.
According to the Federal Election Commission, Matheson and Smith spent almost $4 million between them, including outside spending by special interest groups. Smith's personal spending total was close to $1 million.
This year's election was the latest chapter in the 2nd District's turbulent history.
Since Utah's 2nd District was formed in 1912, 44 elections have been held. Republicans have won 23 and Democrats have won 21. Republicans have held the district for the past three elections.
The average time in office, historically for a 2nd District member is 2.75 terms. Only one man, former Rep. J. Will Robinson, D-Utah, has ever served more than five terms.