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For the second time in as many years, Republican congressional candidate John Swallow conceded defeat in his challenge of Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson.

Swallow's quiet "congratulations" Wednesday on KUTV's morning news show was the meek punctuation of a nasty campaign, his own congressional aspirations and perhaps the hopes of Republican Party faithful who consider the Democratic incumbent an interloper in a conservative district.

Matheson's campaign for a third term could be considered his most successful. In 2000, he opened a wider, 15-point lead over Republican Derek Smith. But Utah's 2nd Congressional District was different then, largely made up of moderate-to-liberal Salt Lake County. In a radically redrawn statewide district two years ago, Matheson barely brushed by Swallow to win re-election by just 1,641 votes. This year, the Democratic incumbent got 56 percent of the vote to Swallow's 42 percent.

Democrats and some pollsters read that number as a rejection of Swallow's negative campaigning. Republicans blame the power of incumbency and a cannibalistic GOP State Convention and primary fight that expended Swallow's energy and resources.

Brigham Young University political scientist Quin Monson says Matheson's third win makes Republicans' inevitable attempts to unseat him in two years very difficult. This year, Matheson passed the "magic" 55-percent line of vulnerability. Monson, assistant director of the university's elections center, says the National Republican Congressional Committee will be less likely to spend on Matheson's next GOP opponent. As a result, Utah Republicans will have a harder time finding viable candidates who have a chance at defeating the Democrat. And the comfort of voters can't be discounted, Monson said.

"Matheson will always have to court the moderate Republicans," he said. "But once they have voted for him once or twice and decided they like him, they will view his activities through that filter as a validation of their vote. It will be easier for them to like him the next time."

Matheson stops short of assuming he owns his district.

"This is really my first time being re-elected in this district," he says. "I've tried to reach out. I don't care where the idea comes from - Democrat, Republican, independent - I'm going to do what's right for Utah."

KBYU/Utah Colleges Exit Poll numbers bear out Matheson's theory. Virtually every Democratic voter in the district cast a ballot for Matheson. But the congressman also won 72 percent of voters who identified themselves as independent and 34 percent of Republicans. In a district where 66 percent of voters cast ballots for President Bush, 38 percent of those voters switched over to vote for Matheson.

"He did as well among Republicans as any Democrat in the state can hope to do," said Kelly Patterson, director of BYU's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy.

Matheson also broadened his base geographically. Two years ago, southern Utah voters cast ballots for Swallow 2-to-1 over Matheson and nearly cost the incumbent the election. In Tuesday's election, Matheson doubled his Washington County vote to total about 35 percent of that county's total. And he widened his lead over Swallow in Salt Lake County, getting more than 65 percent of the vote.

Swallow and the National Republican Congressional Committee's aggressive campaign to paint the Democratic congressman as a tax-and-spend, pro-abortion liberal apparently backfired. Almost 1-in-3 voters polled by the college students ranked their impression of Swallow as "very unfavorable," while Matheson's negative rating settled at 7 percent. And nearly half of voters ranked Matheson smack in the middle between "very conservative" and "very liberal."

Tuesday night, Swallow still defended his often misleading campaign advertisements and direct-mail. "I don't know how Jim will characterize the race, but we talked about the issues," Swallow said.

NRCC spokesman Bo Harmon blames Swallow's hard-fought convention and primary battles as well as Matheson's incumbency for the Republican's loss. But he rejected the idea that negative campaigning - the NRCC spent $1 million on Swallow's behalf - turned the race.

"We felt like Mr. Swallow ran a very strong campaign. It's a heavily Republican district. We just came up short," Harmon said.

Utah Democratic Party Chairman Donald Dunn disputes that summary as too rosy. He calls Swallow's tactics "gutter politics." He believes Matheson's third victory is a charm.

"Jim Matheson should get credit for his victory, not just the fact that Republicans screwed up," Dunn said. "In my opinion, the district is Jim Matheson's. That doesn't mean he doesn't have to work hard and continue to campaign."

Harmon still believes the Democratic congressman is at risk in a heavily Republican district.

"He's certainly one of the most vulnerable," Harmon said.

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Tribune reporter Pamela Manson contributed to this story.