UT Congressman Chris Cannon Glides to Primary Victory

Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News ^ | 06-23-2004 | Walch, Tad

[Theodore R.]

Cannon glides to primary victory By Tad Walch Deseret Morning News

PROVO — The irony of where their respective campaigns met on primary election night wasn't lost on either candidate in the 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday night.

Incumbent Rep. Chris Cannon's supporters watched results pour in at the Hampton Inn in Provo while Matt Throckmorton's backers did the same from a Hampton Inn in Orem.

A few miles on I-15 were all that separated the gatherings, and only a handful of key issues separated the candidates in the Republican primary. Otherwise, they were nearly identical ideological twins. Their differences on immigration reform and the federal education program known as "No Child Left Behind," while significant, weren't enough to persuade voters to unseat Cannon.

Throckmorton pushed Cannon into a primary with a solid showing at the Republican convention, but it was clear at press time, with 81 percent of precincts reporting, that Cannon had earned the party's nomination Tuesday night as he held a commanding lead, with 59 percent of the vote to Throckmorton's 41.

Cannon will face Democrat Beau Babka in November's general election.

Cannon, who is seeking his fifth term, hadn't been pushed into a primary in six years, but he wasn't even in Utah for the vote. He made the decision Monday to remain in Washington rather than get in some last-minute campaigning and huddle with supporters.

"He's been driving us nuts all day with phone calls," said Joe Hunter, Cannon's chief of staff.

Cannon decided he couldn't miss Tuesday's hearings on defense appropriations for 2005, which include funds for Hill Air Force Base, or a Wednesday hearing on a bill to give Utah a fourth congressman.

Cannon also felt it was necessary to attend today's full Judiciary Committee meeting on a bill he co-sponsored that would force the government to consider the impact of each new law on every citizen's personal privacy.

"We haven't had primaries like this in the past," he said. "In 1998, we had a different schedule, with the primary in the fall. Now we have a system in Congress where the Senate is not on our side. It's highly partisan, and I couldn't leave. I would much rather have been in Utah." No irregularities were reported at the polls in the wake of reports that national border restrictions groups would challenge some voters in the belief that Cannon had encouraged illegal immigrants to register to vote. Project USA officials backtracked after published reports and didn't file a bulk challenge of hundreds of voters, and there was no effort to challenge voters at the polls. Two federal elections officials monitored polling places, one in western Salt Lake County and the other in Utah County, but reported no difficulties to Utah County elections coordinator Kris Swensen or Salt Lake County clerk Sherrie Swensen. "We didn't have any problems," Salt Lake's Swensen said. "Everything went well. That was a relief." Cannon blitzed voters over the weekend with radio ads and a recorded phone message from former U.S. Rep. Jim Hansen. The flurry of messages built on more than a month's worth of ads. Throckmorton began heavy radio ads only two weeks ago because of a shortage of campaign funds. He initially planned to martial $150,000 but said he wound up spending just $65,000 to $70,000. Cannon spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $300,000. As expected, Cannon swept the 3rd District's five rural counties — Beaver, Juab, Millard, Sanpete and Sevier — by tremendous margins, earning 69 percent of the vote there. But the candidates ran virtually neck-and-neck in Utah County most of the night, and Throckmorton predicted the race would come down to western Salt Lake County. In the end, Cannon dominated Salt Lake County, winning 59 percent of the vote there. Babka monitored the primary and said he looked forward to facing Cannon. "We've been gearing up to face Chris, so I'm excited to get out and get campaigning," he said. He doesn't believe immigration reform will return as the main issue of his campaign with Cannon. "The biggest thing is that we're going to focus in on jobs, education and security, which also ties into immigration," Babka said. "I see it as still an issue, but I don't think it will be the issue Matt and Chris were involved in." Throckmorton thought his platform of stronger borders and repealing No Child Left Behind gained traction with voters but recognized his similarities with the incumbent. "On the meat and potatoes issues of Republican values, like abortion and gay marriage and gun rights, we were the same." Still, he was happy to push Cannon so hard. "I think we made him extremely nervous," Throckmorton said.

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