Joe Cannon remains chairman of the now-bankrupt-and-closed steel mill. And he said he'll stay on as chairman as a federal bankruptcy court decides Geneva's future. Joe Cannon belongs to a group that wants to turn the huge plant, located on the north-east corner of Utah Lake, into a mixed commercial, residential and light industrial project.

Joe Cannon said he couldn't rule out that appearances before either GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. or the Republican-controlled Legislature on some Geneva-related matters over the next two years.

"But it would be nothing new," for him to appear before state officials, he said. "I've lobbied the Legislature on behalf of Geneva and other issues on and off for 11 years or more."

During the recently concluded session, Cannon noted, he lobbied lawmakers — "on an unpaid basis" — for tuition tax credits, a bill that died in the Utah House when 21 GOP legislators joined with Democrats to defeat the bill.

"I've had some successes and some failures up there" in the Legislature, like any other interested party, said Cannon.

Cannon said should he be elected to another two-year term as GOP chairman in the Aug. 27 state convention, he'll continue his efforts to strengthen the party statewide but especially in Salt Lake County.

"I want all of our (congressional) delegation to be Republican," said Cannon. Currently, only Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson holds a U.S. House seat, both senators and the other two House members are Republicans.

And Cannon wants to win more legislative and local seats in Salt Lake City and County government.

Republicans lost the Salt Lake County mayor's race last year and one county council seat. Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson is a Democrat. No Republican has held that non-partisan seat since the mid-1970s.

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com