Members of Utah's congressional delegation don't think their voices will be diminished even if the Democrats take control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate following the Nov. 7 elections.

If the GOP does lose its congressional majorities, though, they may have little say in how much of a voice they have.

Democrats need to gain 15 seats in the House of Representatives to claim the majority there, and six seats in the Senate. Several analyses suggest those outcomes are possible. Democratic pollster Mark Mellman told The Associated Press that Democrats could gain 14 to 32 seats in the House, for example.

Four out of Utah's five congressional representatives are Republicans.

"Utah has a lot to lose because of seniority and clout," said Kelly Patterson, a political science professor at Brigham Young University.

Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, both R-Utah, are in line for powerful committee chairmanships if the GOP keeps control of the Senate. U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, currently sits on the House Rules Committee, which sets the House's agenda -- and is currently stacked 9-4 in favor of Republicans.

The Democrats' best shot at re-establishing a majority is in the House, and that could significantly blunt GOP influence there.

"Everything depends in the House on, if the Democrats win, how the Democrats decide to govern," Patterson said. "If the Democrats govern without allowing the minority party to make amendments and participate in the debate -- in much the same way that Republicans have acted in the last few years -- then they lose a lot."

Except for U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, that is, who is Utah's sole Democrat in Congress -- although he's also established a centrist voting record that is not always aligned with his party.

"He might face interesting votes," Patterson said. "If the Democratic Party needs his vote on a particular issue, he would be subject to different pressures than he is now."

Matheson, who is being challenged for his seat by Republican state lawmaker LaVar Christensen, disagreed.

"I've already shown that I stand up to leaders of either party," he said. "I don't think it would change the dynamic at all for me."

He said he would probably stay on the same committees and continue to accrue seniority. If Democrats do take the House majority, it will be because of "Blue Dog" Democrats, he said, who represent a more conservative side of their party.

"My politics have always worked well with either party," Matheson said. "I think it's important for Utah to have someone on the majority side, but it won't change how I do my job."

In the Senate, meanwhile, continued GOP control would install Bennett as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and Hatch as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

Bennett is not up for re-election this year, but Hatch is. He's being challenged by a slew of candidates, including Democrat Pete Ashdown.

"It's a very important committee because it crosses the jurisdictions of all the other committees," said Hatch, including subjects such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, international trade and the tax code. The finance chair is often placed on conference committees to reconcile different versions of legislation passed by the House and Senate, he added.

"It's a very, very important thing. It's one of the reasons I'm running again," Hatch said.

Even if the GOP loses its Senate majority, Hatch continued, he'll still be a senior senator. And he noted that when he joined the Senate, the Democrats had a 61-38 majority -- more dominant than the 55-44 (with one Independent) control Republicans have now.

"It's easier in the majority. You do control the whole schedule and the committee work," he said. "It makes it more difficult if we're in the minority, but there will be a lot of people who will want to work with me either way. And I'll be open to them, too, which is, I think, part of being a good senator."

Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, said if the GOP keeps control of the House little will change for him -- he will continue with his current committee assignments, which include chairing a judiciary subcommittee. Democrat Christian Burridge is running against Cannon.

While Cannon said that "my opinion is America's interest will be lessened if the Democrats take power," he also said that many of the issues he's working on are nonpartisan.

"The important things I'm working on in life will probably go forward whether the Republicans or Democrats are in power," Cannon said -- particularly those involving technology. "America is going to continue ... in a relatively bipartisan fashion."

That may be true, said BYU's Patterson. And Democrats should be careful -- while they can point fingers at alleged GOP abuses of power, those same charges could be leveled at Democratic leaders who held sway before the Republicans swept into power in 1994.

And expectations of bipartisanship rely heavily on the will of the majority, he noted.

"If you're a member of the minority party, you have to get someone in the majority to go along," he said.

CURRENT COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS

REP. CHRIS CANNON

Chairman, subcommittee on commercial and administrative law

Judiciary Committee

Resources Committee

Government Reform Committee

REP. JIM MATHESON

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

Financial Services Committee

Science Committee

REP. ROB BISHOP

Rules Committee

SEN. ORRIN HATCH

Intelligence Committee

Judiciary Committee

Finance Committee

Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee

Joint Committee on Taxation

SEN. BOB BENNETT

Appropriations Committee

Banking Committee

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

Rules Committee

Vice chairman, Joint Economic Committee

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.