Bishop's opponent unhappy with mailer

Two-thirds of Utahns may be getting — or have gotten — a mailer this election year from their congressman, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, this week sent out 140,000 mailers to many of his northern Utah constituents, costing more than $30,000.

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, will send one out to his 2nd District constituents before the congressionally mandated mailing deadline in early August.

Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah — who lost his seat in the June GOP primary — will not be sending out another mailer this year, said his chief of staff Joe Hunter.

Congressmen can send out taxpayer-paid mailers to constituents (and possible voters) in election years, but there are rules to be followed. (They can also send the mailers outside of election season, and many do that, as well.)

A House committee approves the mailers' design and contents (supposedly to keep the mailers from being overly partisan and/or self-promoting). Pictures of the congressman in the mailers can only be so large and appear so many times — his name so large in print. (Bishop's mailer has his name mentioned seven times.) And the fliers can't be mailed between August and the November general election.

"This is just wrong," said Morgan Bowen, Bishop's Democratic opponent in the 1st Congressional District. "It is nice for (Bishop) to get free campaign advertising gratis of the American taxpayer."

Bill Dew, the Republican running against Matheson, said he had no comment on the mailings.

Both Bishop and Matheson, like other congressmen, have started using their mailers as prequels to telephone town hall meetings, staffers for both representatives told the Deseret News.

"We started using electronic town hall meets last November, and we've found them to be a very efficient way to contact constituents," said Alyson Heyrend, Matheson's congressional spokeswoman. "And the feedback is so positive, people like them."

Bishop's latest mailer says the congressman is a leader in trying to adopt a good national energy policy, including his bill on the declaration on energy, much like the Declaration of Independence. "This is a bill he's pushing as a campaign issue; it is clearly campaign material," said Bowen.

Bishop and Matheson have held several "electronic town halls" over the summer, making telephone calls into homes asking those who answer to "join" the electronic meeting. Bishop's new mailer says: "He may be calling you soon" to join such a meeting.

But who he calls is somewhat at a congressman's discretion — a recipient of the mailer won't be able to decide on his own to call in to the town hall meeting. Congressmen's staff and/or the private provider they pick to manage the meeting uses a list of registered voters' telephone numbers, said Scott Parker, Bishop's chief of staff.

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