But he has provided his opposition a very small target, voting with his Republican colleagues more than nearly any other Democrat in the House, and showing a particular willingness to break with his party on high-profile issues.

Many Republicans, including some who worked to unseat him, privately shake their heads, frustrated with the Democrat who looks like a Republican.

He voted to prohibit same-sex marriage, voted for Bush tax cuts, supported the president's energy plan and voted to give gunmakers immunity from lawsuits.

"I take a real independent approach and it's pretty much validated in the way I've been received," Matheson said of his voting record during his tenure in the House. "My relationship with both parties in Congress has been enhanced by that because people know when I look at an issue, I really look at the substance of the issue."

But Republicans are calling Matheson a wolf in sheep's clothing, who resists tax cuts and pro-life issues before ultimately voting for them to save face with his Utah constituents, or else changes his position after coming under fire.

Matheson voted against the partial birth abortion ban in 2002 then voted for it in 2003. He voted against a constitutional amendment on flag burning, voted against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and voted against making the Bush tax cuts permanent.

"On issue after issue he takes both sides," said Bo Harmon, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Matheson admits changing his view on the partial birth abortion ban. Initially he believed it was too restrictive, more so than the law in place in Utah, but after meeting with doctors and others after the vote, he decided to support the measure the next time it came up for a vote.

"I developed a better understanding of the issue and I voted" for the ban, Matheson said.

Matheson has won the backing of the typical Democratic constituencies, like environmentalists and labor, but this election he has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Don Peay, founder of the group Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, said Matheson has supported habitat restoration efforts, land and water conservation funding and permitting states to make decisions on whether to allow bear hunts.

"Jim Matheson has shown more interest in the hunting and conservation issues than any member of the Utah delegation" since Rep. Jim Hansen retired, said Peay.

"I don't really play follow the leader with anybody," said Matheson, and the leader of the House Democrats says that's fine with her.

"Unlike the Republicans, Democratic Members of the House are not required to be rubber-stamps for leadership," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Jim Matheson is an outstanding member of Congress and his voting record demonstrates his commitment to representing his constituents, first and foremost."

Working as a junior member of the minority party is an uphill fight. Committee chairmen act as the gatekeepers for what bills get through the House, and keep opposing party legislation at a trickle.

In two terms, Matheson has introduced 13 bills or resolutions and only one - a resolution honoring Utah Jazz guard John Stockton - was passed by Congress as a standalone measure.

"For all of his talk of working across the aisle to get things done, he's not getting much done," Harmon said.

Matheson says that shows a basic misunderstanding or misrepresentation of how the legislative process works.

"You introduce bills and try to get them passed the best way you can," he said.

He and Sen. Bob Bennett teamed up to get funding for the Utah Museum of Natural History; he added a program to Bush's math and science initiative to encourage students to get involved in research, and backed a biometrics provision to the aviation security bill.

In his last election, Matheson edged out his opponent, attorney and former state legislator John Swallow, by just 1,642 votes.

Polls show him with a more comfortable lead, but both sides expect it to be hard-fought until the end.

Should he be re-elected, Matheson has made his top priority for his third term passing legislation that would make it more difficult to resume nuclear testing in Nevada. Matheson's father, former Gov. Scott Matheson, was a downwinder, one of thousands exposed to radioactive fallout from atomic tests during the Cold War.

But it's his late father's values that still shape Matheson's politics.

"I am what I am," he said. "I'm a Utah Democrat and a Matheson Democrat. I practice the politics that I was raised on and I was raised in a household that talked about family and duty and community service. . . . That's what people want. They don't want the polarized nature of Washington today."

MATHESON VOTED IN FAVOR OF:

* Fetus protection: Making it a crime to injure or kill a fetus during the commission of another crime (Feb. 2004).

* Abortion ban: On partial-birth abortion, except to save mother's life (July 2003).

* Cloning ban: On human cloning for research (Feb. 2003, July 2001).

* School prayer: To allow it during the War on Terror (Nov. 2001).

* Energy policy: The Bush administration energy policy (June 2004, Nov. 2003).

* Forest thinning: To speed approval of thinning for wildfire prevention (Nov. 2003).

* Tax reduction: To reduce the Marriage Tax by $399 billion over 10 years (March 2001).

* Gunmaker immunity: Giving immunity to gunmakers and sellers (April 2003).

* Limiting malpractice: To limit damages in medical lawsuits (May 2004, March 2003).

* Drug benefits: Limited prescription benefit for Medicare recipients (Nov. 2003, June 2000).

* Tax credits: Making permanent the increase in child tax credit (May 2004).

* Eliminating penalties: Making permanent the elimination of the marriage penalty (April 2004).

* Eliminating tax: Eliminating the Estate Tax (April 2001).

* War in Iraq: Authorizing the use of force in Iraq (Oct. 2002).

VOTED AGAINST:

* Flag amendment: Constitutional ban on flag desecration (June 2003, July 2001).

* Oil drilling: In the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Aug. 2001, Feb. 2001).

* Prescription imports: Allow-ing reimportation of prescription drugs (July 2003).

* Illegal alien reporting: Of those who are treated in hospitals (May 2004).

* Permanent tax cuts: Making Bush tax cuts permanent (April 2002).

Source: Congressional Record, news reports

The Salt Lake Tribune