Cannon glides to primary victory

PROVO — The irony of where their respective campaigns met on primary election night wasn't lost on either candidate in the 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday night.

Incumbent Rep. Chris Cannon's supporters watched results pour in at the Hampton Inn in Provo while Matt Throckmorton's backers did the same from a Hampton Inn in Orem.

A few miles on I-15 were all that separated the gatherings, and only a handful of key issues separated the candidates in the Republican primary.

Otherwise, they were nearly identical ideological twins. Their differences on immigration reform and the federal education program known as "No Child Left Behind," while significant, weren't enough to persuade voters to unseat Cannon.

Throckmorton pushed Cannon into a primary with a solid showing at the Republican convention, but it was clear at press time, with 81 percent of precincts reporting, that Cannon had earned the party's nomination Tuesday night as he held a commanding lead, with 59 percent of the vote to Throckmorton's 41.

Cannon will face Democrat Beau Babka in November's general election.

Cannon, who is seeking his fifth term, hadn't been pushed into a primary in six years, but he wasn't even in Utah for the vote. He made the decision Monday to remain in Washington rather than get in some last-minute campaigning and huddle with supporters.

"He's been driving us nuts all day with phone calls," said Joe Hunter, Cannon's chief of staff.

Cannon decided he couldn't miss Tuesday's hearings on defense appropriations for 2005, which include funds for Hill Air Force Base, or a Wednesday hearing on a bill to give Utah a fourth congressman.

Cannon also felt it was necessary to attend today's full Judiciary Committee meeting on a bill he co-sponsored that would force the government to consider the impact of each new law on every citizen's personal privacy.

"We haven't had primaries like this in the past," he said. "In 1998, we had a different schedule, with the primary in the fall. Now we have a system in Congress where the Senate is not on our side. It's highly partisan, and I couldn't leave. I would much rather have been in Utah."