This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2004, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Democrat Jim Matheson appeared headed to a narrow victory late Tuesday in his rematch with Jim Swallow to capture Utah's Second Congressional District.
With 68 percent of the vote tallied by midnight, Matheson held a 54 percent to 44 percent advantage over Swallow in a race that took dramatic turns over the course of the night, as vote counts across the state came in.
Democrats also appeared poised to capture Salt Lake County, with Peter Corroon holding a slight edge over Republican Ivory Ellis in his bid to replace outgoing mayor Nancy Workman. She dropped out of the race in the face of two felony charges for allegedly misusing county funds and was replaced on the ballot by Ellis in the campaign's final days.
With 63 percent of precincts counted, Corroon had 49 percent of the vote, compared to Ellis' 44 percent.
The Democratic victories came against a backdrop of Republican wins, led by President George W. Bush, who swept Utah's five electoral votes by winning with a margin of over 70 percent.
Republican Jon Huntsman Jr., heir to his father's chemical fortune, easily defeated Democratic challenger Scott Matheson Jr. to become Utah governor. Preliminary returns had Huntsman winning by 57 percent to Matheson's 42 percent.
Sen. Bob Bennett was the projected winner over Democrat Paul Van Dam, leading 69 percent to 28 percent with more than 60 percent of the vote tallied.
GOP incumbents Rob Bishop and Chris Cannon looked to retain their congressional seats, both with sizeable margins. Bishop was winning with 70 percent of the vote over challenger Steve Thompson with nearly half the precincts counted in the First Congressional District, while Cannon was beating Democrat Beau Babka in the Third District by 62 percent to 34 percent on partial returns.
There was widespread backing among Utahns for a constitution amendment to ban gay marriage. Amendment 3 was headed to passage by a 2-to-1 margin, with 67 percent voting for it and 33 percent against after more than a third of precincts were in.
While polls showed Utahns generally opposed same-sex marraige, opponents argued additional language in the measure threatened Utah's common law marriage statute and might violate the rights of unmarried heterosexual couples.
A proposed $150 million bond issue for open space, known as Initiative 1, was going down to defeat. The measure was intended to preserve open space, promote clean water and air, build parks and construct government buildings with an increase in the sales tax of one-twentieth of a cent. Initiative 1 was drawing support from only 44 percent of voters, compared to 56 percent opposed, based on partial tallies.