This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Republicans said Wednesday that the ratio of Democrats to Republicans in newly drawn congressional districts is not as draconian as Democrats portray.

For example, while Democrats said this week that the new 2nd Congressional District where Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, lives is 65 percent Republican, the GOP said it is 60 percent instead. Those five percentage points could make a big difference in close elections.

"The numbers that Democrats put out are garbage," said Ivan DuBois, executive director of the Utah Republican Party, as he released his own. He asserts Democrats are trying to make partisan divides look worse than they are to help a lawsuit they are pursuing, and to court sympathy among voters.

Utah Democratic Party Chairman Jim Dabakis stood by his party's numbers, but said he hopes the GOP data is correct instead. "We are thrilled with their numbers. With them, Jim Matheson is going to kick their butts. We'll take their numbers any old day."

DuBois countered that, "Jim Matheson will be defeated in 2012 no matter where he runs because of his career-politician mentality, failed policies and lack of leadership in addressing the country's problems — not because of any political boundaries."

Earlier this week, Matheson said he is considering running in not only the newly drawn 2nd District where he lives but also perhaps in the new 4th Congressional District, which has no incumbent, or even the 3rd Congressional District where Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, lives. He said his old district was split fairly evenly among those new districts, so he is looking at them all — as well as maybe running for governor or the Senate.

DuBois said because Utah now has four congressional districts instead of three, all incumbents — including Chaffetz and GOP Rep. Rob Bishop — lost large chunks of their existing districts.

He said he figures that while Matheson's 2nd District kept 31 percent of its current voters, Chaffetz kept 38 percent of his, and Bishop kept 70 percent.

He said that helps show Matheson was not singled out by Republican lawmakers for losing current constituents.

DuBois especially attacks Democratic estimates of how partisan each district is.

Besides Matheson's district, Democrats said Chaffetz's 3rd district is 74 percent Republican. DuBois said it is 67 percent — or seven percentage points lower.

Democrats said the new 4th District is 62 percent Republican, and DuBois said it is actually 59 percent.

Both parties agree that the 1st Congressional District of Bishop is 72 percent Republican.

Each party maintains separate data bases to track how partisan areas are based on voting and surveys conducted. The Legislature itself banned putting partisan data on its computers used for redistricting. So it is difficult to measure how accurate either party is.

Matheson said on Tuesday, however, that the respected national Cook Political Report independently figures his current district is 65 percent Republican — which is the same number used by the Utah Democratic Party.

DuBois said the GOP figures that Matheson's current district is 58.5 percent Republican instead, so it figures his new district is not too much more Republican with its calculation of 60 percent favoring the GOP. Matheson calculates that both his current and new districts have partisan splits that are roughly equivalent.

But Matheson's new district puts eastside areas of Salt Lake County that had been keys to his past victories into Chaffetz's district. Matheson's new district would include most of Democratic Salt Lake City, but have added to it such Republican areas as southern Davis County and most of rural southern Utah.

The Legislature passed new congressional maps on Monday, and they are awaiting final approval by Gov. Gary Herbert. —

Gerrymandering of a different color

Democrats were not the only ones threatening to sue the Legislature over redistricting. Utah Republican Party Chairman Thomas Wright says he warned lawmakers that the GOP would do the same if it made a safe district for Democrats among new congressional boundaries.

He said one of six finalist maps considered by the Redistricting Committee, called a "hat with three stripes" by Rep. Fred Cox, R-West Valley, in his opinion would have created a safe Democratic district — and said he told lawmakers the GOP would consider suing if they adopted that one.

Wright said he told legislators that "If you pass a map that Republicans can't be competitive in, that I would consider the same type of action the Democrats were considering," namely a lawsuit.

He said if a safe Democratic seat were drawn, "I'd have a problem with it. Just like I'd have a problem if they were drawing maps that only Republicans can win."

Wright says the final maps are fair. Democrats disagree and say they plan to challenge boundaries in court.

Robert Gehrke