The top news in Utah politics this week…as far as Twitter sees it.

It’s Friday, and you know what that means: time to look back at the week in news.

Sort of. This week, we’re going to look back at what’s being discussed in the myopic world of Utah politics on Twitter, specifically with the hashtag #utpol.

Yeah. Really. I’m that scientific about it (and in case you are sarcasm impaired, the following really were among  the “top” items according to Twitter over the last week. Don’t believe me? Click here. Second, it’s not actually intended to be scientific…)

First off: Redistricting.

This year, not only are we redrawing the lines, but we’re adding a congressional district to the mix, too. State Sen. Ben McAdams has been one of the more articulate voices on the left side of the aisle.

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/BenMcAdams/status/119483174307889152″]

His reference, of course, is to Rep. Ken Sumsion’s map which was adopted by the committee for forwarding to the legislature next week. The feeling among Democrats is that the map (here) tends to favor Republicans.

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/heydebhenry/status/118745534294007808″]

The feel among Republicans seems to be that Democrats are crazy to think that the Republican dominated legislature is going to draw maps that protect Democrats from the effects of being a minority.

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/CarlDowning/status/118743716876918786″]

Meanwhile, Rep. Carl Wimmer is already campaigning for whatever district he ends up in.

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/CarlWimmer/status/119470800356126720″]

I think that’s a safe position to take…especially since its more likely that Congressman Matheson is going to be running for something else, anyway. There’s no way he, of all the left leaning politicians in Utah, will be getting a pass from Republicans.

Meanwhile, someone held out a branch of hope that the Governor would be a voice of reason and throw a bone to the Democrats. Robert Gehrke followed up on that one, and quickly broke that branch, burned it, and tossed the ashes in the trash can.

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/RobertGehrke/status/119461131755597824″]

And that provides the summation of what is perhaps the strangest part of the redistricting process, and also the most recent: one Republican attacking another over Jim Matheson‘s seat. It seems that no one wants to face the five-term Congressman in a competitively drawn district or in a statewide race.

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/politicalhound/status/119841732929138689″]

The last Republican to run against Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, is attacking GOP Gov. Gary Herbert for what he says is behind-the-scenes pressure on lawmakers to draw a friendlier U.S. House district for Matheson so he will seek reelection to Congress and stay out of the governor’s race against Herbert.

“The Matheson threat is of greater concern to Utah’s governor than fairness and due process,” said Morgan Philpot, who lost to Matheson last year by a 50.5 to 46.1 percent margin. Philpot says he hopes to challenge Matheson again next year, but also is not ruling out a run for governor.

Lest we be confused, this is all based on hearsay.

Philpot said in an interview that he has “heard from a lot of people” that Herbert is pushing for changes that might convince Matheson to stay in the congressional race. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s a secret. Pretty much anyone involved in this process knows that the governor has been worried about this.”

No so, says the Governor’s office.

Allyson Isom, Herbert’s spokeswoman, said such inferences are incorrect, and that Herbert simply wants a plan that is fair for all — and says he never threatened a veto as some news media reports said. She adds that Philpot never personally met with Herbert to discuss what may have happened or his motives.

To sum it up: lawyers representing Democrats suing the state are already calculating the billables they can milk out of this…at tax payer expense.

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In other news, Chris Christie is not running for President.  But that doesn’t mean he’s not in the news.

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/UtahPolicy/status/119135310692106241″]

On Tuesday, arch-enemy of Utah open lands advocates Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar stopped by.

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/OrrinHatch/status/118803347640811522″]

I gotta be honest–I just can’t really hear Sen. Hatch saying these words…and the picture seems about a decade out of date. Salazar was in town for the reopening of the Dinosaur National Monument Visitors Center. I hope we gave him a warm Utah welcome.

Given the federal government owns about three-fifths of Utah, is there another figure in anywhere in the United States as important to Utah land-use issues as the interior secretary?

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Next up: Democrats who are also Mormons. They might be as rare as a Utah Ute fan who lives outside of Salt Lake Valley, but apparently the Utah Democratic Party’s new push to grow is to force the outing of all these rare Democrat Mormons.

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/BenMcAdams/status/118406462144917504″]

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So what do you think? Did Twitter get it right? Was this really the top news this week?

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• Committee endorses congressional map, Dems claim gerrymandering ()
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