Money no problem for GOP's Leavitt

"I raised more money than Cannon did, even if you don't count the Leavitts," said David Leavitt. "But there are a lot of Leavitts. And if you can't count on your immediate family to support you, you've got problems."

Most of the 14 Leavitts on his report gave him the maximum amount allowed at this point in the race under FEC rules — $2,300 apiece. They can give more if Leavitt comes out of next spring's Utah State Republican convention, either as the sole party nominee for the 3rd District or gets into a late-June primary election with another GOP candidate.

Leavitt said he has a detailed agenda, both in fund raising and political issues, that he believes will take him through the GOP state convention and through the June-long primary election, should he not win the 3rd District Republican Party nomination in the convention.

"The common rule of thought is that the convention is the place where you have to take out" Cannon, said Leavitt.

Chaffetz has said that's where he plans on ousting the incumbent. Should a candidate get 60 percent of the 3rd District delegate vote, he wins the nomination outright. Short of that, the top two delegate vote-getters advance to the June closed GOP primary.

"While that rule may be true, one cannot proceed to the convention without a primary plan, including raising money" for an expensive primary TV ad battle, Leavitt said. "John Jacob found that out."

Jacob, a land and water developer, actually got more GOP delegate votes than did Cannon in the 2006 Republican convention. But Jacob's public primary campaign fizzled over the next four weeks, and Cannon won the vote going away.

Jacob, like Leavitt and Cannon, is a millionaire. Jacob ended up loaning his campaign $544,000.

Cannon only has $40,000 in cash in his campaign account. Leavitt has $95,200 in cash and Chaffetz has $35,400 in cash, their new FEC reports show.

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com