Posted on 06/27/2006 10:32:40 PM PDT by Spiff
Jacobs Concedes, Cannon Moves on to General Election
June 27th, 2006 @ 11:12pm
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon, challenged by a political newcomer who accused the five-term incumbent of being soft on illegal immigration, was leading in Utah's Republican primary Tuesday with more than half of precincts reporting.
Cannon led John Jacob 58 percent to 42 percent, or 19,575 votes to 14,395 votes, with 313 of 623 precincts reporting. That includes 100 percent of returns from Juab, Beaver and Millard counties.
The 3rd Congressional District race focused primarily on who stands taller in opposition to Bush's call for a path to citizenship for some 11 million illegal immigrants.
Cannon voted last December for a House bill that would toughen border security, criminalize people who help illegal immigrants and make being in the U.S. without the required papers a felony. But he also supports Bush's proposal for a guest-worker program and says "there's massive room for negotiation."
Cannon's willingness to compromise made him a target of Team America, a conservative group that calls illegal immigration the most critical problem facing the nation. It spent $40,000 on radio ads criticizing him.
Jacob, a millionaire real-estate developer, favors returning illegal immigrants to their home countries before giving them a shot at U.S. citizenship and punishing businesses for hiring them.
At the state Republican convention last month, Jacob captured 52 percent of the delegate votes while Cannon got 48 percent. Sixty percent was needed to avoid Tuesday's primary.
The winner will face Democrat Christian Burridge, among others, in November in a district that anyone but a Republican has little chance of winning. Bush carried the 3rd District with 77 percent of the vote in 2004.
The sprawling district, which stretches south from Salt Lake County and west to Nevada, is heavily Mormon and predominantly white. Hispanics make up about 10 percent of the population; blacks less than 1 percent.
In 1996, Cannon won the seat, in part by arguing that the Democratic incumbent, U.S. Rep. Bill Orton, was soft on immigration. In 2004, Cannon's actions on the issue prompted conservatives to back Matt Throckmorton, who managed 42 percent in his GOP primary loss.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
This show down has been coming for a long time now. Tancredo, the buchanan's and the "borders are the only thing" crowd decided to make the Utah race a national referendum on the issue. They can editorialize this huge loss all they want, on this evening in Utah the issue was put into it's proper perspective.
Next will come what becomes of Tancredo. I'd say there is a good chance of him following in the buchanan foot steps after this.
I'm awfully glad I don't have to do it.
L
Yes, but it's a good thing to discover that politically unknown people like Jacobs of Utah and Gilchrist of California can gather such strong support simply because they want to control illegal immigration.
What a shame that so many Americans vote for name recognition only. It only serves to save the butts of the incumbents, keeping the creeps in office.
LOL.
You are right. In fact I would go even further. Single issue voters and candidates always make the mistake of believing their solution to the single issue is the one everyone wants.
They are always wrong too.
I like the way you said that, and I agree. I hate the "us vs. them" but that is what it has become.
I barely learned Tom Tancredo's name before I came to loathe the man. Had the TV on for maybe an hour today and heard him say "the cult of multi-culturalism" about a dozen times. But he never gets specific about the 'mortal' consequences... you gotta buy the book to learn the Big Secret about how those damn aliens are destroying us. What a pant load. Kinda scary that I even know his name, tell the truth.
He is a joke.
I'll have to disagree with you there. Sometimes their ultimate solutions may be right. They just want to get there too fast, at the expense of other issues, without due process and way too far out in front of the American people.
And sometimes they are just flat out wrong.
Thanks for the pep speech. It really helped.
It was mere flesh wound.
You're correct, the House will take the necessary stand on this issue. Following the results of this self-imposed referendum by the leading proponents of the issue I'd say the Pence Plan now has an excellent chance of moving forward.
I think Bull Run is the wrong analogy...more like the Little Big Horn.
Ugh. Rolls eyes...
How about "It's better to DIE on your feet than to LIVE on your knees"
LOL
LOL
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