Chaffetz wins big — He turns Cannon into a lame duck

A groundbreaking grassroots organization built by challenger Jason Chaffetz combined Tuesday with a growing storm of Republican discontent to sweep six-term Congressman Chris Cannon out of office.

Chaffetz handily defeated Cannon, earning 60 percent of the vote to land the Republican nomination for Utah's 3rd District seat in Congress, a seat held by Cannon since 1996.

"I got a nice call from Congressman Cannon wishing us all the best. That was a sweet call to take," Chaffetz said after 200 supporters greeted him at 11 p.m. with chants of "Jason, Jason, Jason."

Unhappy Republican voters stayed home Tuesday, and those who did vote expressed their frustration with $4 gas and other problems. Cannon termed it a revolution, a sign that the anger that swept Democrats to power in Congress had lapped up on Utah's borders.

Chaffetz agreed voters are frustrated.

"We have to get serious about $4 gasoline, fiscal discipline and the illegal immigration problem in America," he said. "This is just the beginning. I need your help. We need to take this all the way through November."

He'll clearly follow the same blueprint that won the primary.

"We did two things exceptionally," Chaffetz said earlier in the day. "First, we focused on policy and issues, because issues matter with voters. Second, we created a true, grassroots organization. It was very real."

Chaffetz pointed to his hundreds of volunteers and the demand for things like yard signs as proof of that support.

Chaffetz defeated Cannon at the Republican convention runoff, 59 percent to 41. But Cannon had lost at convention two years ago to John Jacob and then easily won the Republican primary.

Chaffetz maintained a perfect pitch to his campaign throughout, something Jacob couldn't manage, and volunteer campaign manager Jennifer Scott masterminded the grassroots effort.

Despite polls that reflected a statistical tie and a face sunburned by honk-and-wave events during the morning, lunch and evening drive times, Cannon appeared comfortable in his spartan campaign office late Tuesday afternoon. A veteran of several close primary races, he wasn't concerned he might lose.

"It's always been close," he said. "There is a base vote that is opposed to me. But being released is not all a bad thing. I have lots of options and alternatives. If I don't win I'll do exactly the same thing I did before and essentially what I'm doing now. I'll go out and make money, which I can't really do now, and continue to develop tools to help Republicans go out and win."