In Utah, there will be no marches, no petitions and no signs.

Even though the Beehive State would benefit by getting a fourth congressional seat if the measure the D.C. residents are lobbying for were to pass, there is no substantial advocacy by state residents.

Utah, it seems, is just happy to be along for the ride.

"What's the incentive for Utah?" asks Quin Monson, a political scientist at Brigham Young University's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy. "One: We already have representation. Two: We're going to get another seat anyway very soon."

The District of Columbia and Utah may be tied together in the legislation aimed at getting the district its first full-voting House member, but the two are also increasingly on divergent roads. The district has ramped up its efforts, hoping to persuade Congress to vote for the legislation to end what residents call taxation without representation.

That's even the official slogan printed on D.C. license plates.

Utah, on the other hand, is looking to a few years into the future when the Census will likely help the state get at least one more House member. While the state's representatives say they will vote for and speak up for the bill, there is no concerted push from the delegation.

Why?

"There isn't a sense that this is going to happen," says Jeff Hartley, executive director of the Utah Republican Party. "It doesn't seem to be going anywhere. If there's something we could do to be productive, we would, but in reality, it doesn't seem to have any traction."

The legislation, which quickly passed two House committees earlier this year was headed for House passage and supporters said they had more than enough votes to get it through. But then a group of Republicans thwarted the passage with a parliamentary procedure that made the vote more about gun rights than voting rights.

House Democrats, who control the chamber, pulled the measure from consideration and are planning to bring it up this week again. It's still unclear how they get past the Republican move to get rid of the district's handgun ban.

Either way, Utah's advocacy for the legislation is not as strong as it was a few years ago when the idea was first broached. State officials then were stoked about the idea of matching what is expected to be a seat for the Democratic-dominated District of Columbia with a seat for heavily Republican Utah.

Utah barely missed out on a fourth congressional seat after the last Census.

"For what its worth, Utahns have representation. It may be under-representation, but it's not as bad as D.C.," says Todd Taylor, executive director of the Utah Democratic Party. That explains why people aren't taking to the streets in the state, he says, though he notes that state officials still are supportive.

Rep. Chris Cannon's chief of staff, Joe Hunter, says that since the Democrats control Congress, the most effective push is in the District of Columbia. The impetus for action has to come from there, not Utah.

"That doesn't mean there aren't a lot of people in Utah that are interested in getting a fourth seat," he adds.

They just won't be marching to prove it.

tburr@sltrib.com