OREM — Merrill Cook and John Jacob are working tirelessly to have face-to-face conversations with most of the 1,100 men and women who on Saturday will decide the fate of their campaigns against incumbent U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon.

All that talking costs, as Neil Young once sang, "a whole lotta spendin' money."

The cash is buying a lot of food and even some movie tickets.

Jacob had spent nearly $250,000 on the race as of April 23, the last deadline for pre-convention campaign finance reports, but the Eagle Mountain businessman was climbing a name-recognition hill: Cannon is a five-term incumbent in Utah's 3rd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Cook served two terms in Congress from Utah's 2nd District.

Combined, the three candidates spent more than $100,000 in the first three weeks of April as they sparred over the same 1,100 delegates to Saturday's state Republican convention. If 60 percent of the delegates select one man, he will win the party's nomination. If no candidate manages that super majority, the two highest vote-getters will tussle on toward the Republican primary on June 27.

A great deal of April's campaign cash bought breakfast, lunch and dinner for the delegates.

"Nothing draws a crowd better than a crowd, and nothing draws a crowd better than food," said Randy Minson, Jacob's campaign manager.

Jacob held a barbecue for delegates on Saturday. Today he is hosting breakfast for delegates at Mimi's Cafe in Murray and lunch at the Sizzler in Orem.

Cook, who is hammering at Cannon on immigration reform, spent $376.81 on delegate lunches at Los Hermanos on April 20. Cannon forked over $1,635.11 at Lon's Cookin' Shack in Provo on April 7.

All of it, even the free screening of "Mission: Impossible III" that Jacob is providing delegates on the eve of the convention, is designed to produce the kind of substantive political discussion and access to the candidate that Cannon provided Monday night.

Cannon paid for a conference call where a phone system called all the delegates. He was joined by House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and more than 100 delegates for an hourlong question-and-answer session.

The questions were tough, ranging from frustration over gas prices to concern about Cannon's votes on immigration.

Cannon told delegates David Mower and Peggy Burdett he wants to open more areas to oil and coal exploration and increase nuclear power production.

Another delegate challenged Cannon's sponsorship of a bill that provided precious education dollars to illegal immigrants.

"That allows states to decide whether to grant in-state tuition to children whose parents brought them here illegally," Cannon said. "I believe the states ought to have the choice to do that or not. It also allows us to capture the smartest of those who are not here of their own volition but because their parents brought them."