James David Matheson (born March 21, 1960) is an American politician who served as a United States Representative from Utah from 2001 to 2015.

[11] He joined a group that was in favor of increased compensation for people who were affected by the radiation from Cold War atomic testing.

In March 2007, Matheson was one of 14 Democrats who voted against a bill that would require President George W. Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq by September 1, 2008.

[16] Matheson leans anti-abortion but supports expanding federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

[17] Matheson voted against raising the federal debt limit, as well as against both Republican and Democratic budgets that did not reduce the deficit.

[citation needed] Matheson, a former energy industry businessman, voted against authorizing the construction of new oil refineries.

In a comment on this legislation, Matheson stated, "Nearly two years ago the subprime mortgage meltdown triggered the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

[19] In January 2013, Matheson was one of sixteen Democrats that voted against the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012,[20] which was the last minute solution to the U.S. fiscal cliff.

Matheson released a statement saying that "to address the fiscal cliff, legislation must include a strong framework for real deficit reduction.

"[21] Matheson is also opposed to the No Child Left Behind Act, believing that education is a local issue and federal funds should come with minimal strings attached.

Matheson also believes that the "Highly Qualified Teacher" requirements should be more flexible, and that states should have alternative options to the single standardized test used in No Child Left Behind.

Matheson responded by saying that he is very happy for his brother and that "the federal 10th Circuit Court will gain a judge devoted to judicial integrity, fairness and knowledge of the law.

[28] The prospect of losing the seat frightened district Republicans enough that Cook was unseated in the primary by computer executive Derek Smith.

They were only connected to Salt Lake City by a narrow band of territory in heavily Republican Utah County.

However, national Republicans stayed out of the race after state legislators claimed they had drawn a district that no Democrat could possibly win.