Republicans take UT House… again
Republican Rob Bishop won a seat in Congress on Tuesday, beating Democratic candidate Dave Thomas by 24 percent.
Bishop will take the place of retiring Rep. Jim Hansen from Utah’s House District 1.
Democrat Jim Matheson narrowly beat Republican John Swallow to retain his seat in District 2 for Congress, despite the redistricting that has occurred since the last elections.
Republican Chris Cannon also retained his congressional seat in the state’s third district.
Bishop said his first priority as a new member of Congress will be to find the bathrooms. After completing that task, he said he will rally support for the issues most important to Utah, like the armed forces and transportation.
Thomas conceded early Tuesday evening.
Gov. Michael Leavitt said he was happy with the way the elections were being handled by voters in the state.
“It’s heartening that even during difficult times, Utah still supports the Republicans,” he said.
Pollster Dan Jones said the election results were not surprising.
“You have to say the Republicans did well under the gerrymandering,” he said.
In the northern part of the state, Rep. Loraine Pace was re-elected to represent State House District 4. She beat Democratic candidate Connie Morgan by 20 percent.
Morgan was calm throughout the night as election results were announced.
“I have no regrets. I ran a good, a very strong campaign. I ran a grassroots campaign,” she said.
Morgan said she will be back in the classroom with her students this week, encouraging them to be responsible citizens.
“I’ll be back,” she said. “I don’t go away easily.”
Pace said she is excited to have another chance in the House representing members of Cache and Rich counties. She said she will be back at work this Friday in Salt Lake City.
“My primary goal for Utah State is funding for Merrill Library,” she said.
The changes will require $42 million.
Pace said House Bill 331 needs to be revised this year. There is a possibility of change in the number of hours required to become a resident, she said. The current law allows for residency to be acheived after a student takes 60 credit hours at a Utah institution. Pace said she would propose the requirement be lowered to 45 hours. She also said she would like to see graduate students exempted from the residency requirements.
Brent Parker, Craig Buttars and Ben Ferry also won seats in the Utah House of Representatives.
Redistricting affected the race for State Senate District 4. Minority Whip Patrice Arent was placed in the same district as Majority Leader Steven Poulton. Arent won by slightly more than 10 percent.
Much of the talk in the last few weeks involved Initiative 1.
Katie Christiansen, a graduate student studying family and human development, voted in favor of the initiative.
“I think we need more money for education,” she said.
Zach Takos, a junior studying pre-law and economics, said the initiative is too complex for the average voter.
The citizens’ initiative to raise taxes on nuclear waste stored in Utah failed by a margin of two to one. Retiring Congress-man Jim Hansen said the initiative’s problem was a simple one.
“It turned out to be a problem of a very confusing piece of legislation,” he said.
-jonryan@
cc.usu.edu
Shirlene Williams, a junior majoring in speech pathology, checks in with the election volunteers Pat Hacey, Marie England and Norma Carver at the Student Living Center on Tuesday. (Photo by Cory Hill)
Rep. Loraine Pace (left) wins the Republican seat for State House District 4. Rep. Craig Buttars (middle) wins the Republican seat for District 3. Connie Morgan (right) is the Democrat defeated in the District 4 race. (Photos by John Zsiray)