Cannon win may hurt illegal-immigrant foes

OREM — Rep. Chris Cannon 's radio ads in the weeks before his convincing Republican primary victory conjured up images of a vast national conspiracy mobilized against him.

"I just wish the special interests would quit their negative attacks," a woman's voice said in one radio spot for Cannon.

And it was true that for months, Cannon was attacked in the media for sponsoring a bill that would provide temporary legal status to undocumented workers.

The ads, on radio and billboards and in newspapers, were paid for by out-of-state groups that want to unseat Cannon and other like-minded Republican members of Congress to bolster their efforts to gain tighter immigration laws.

Cannon's victory may have wounded that effort, some say.

It's not known how much organizations like ProjectUSA and the Coalition for the Future American Worker spent in Utah's 3rd District Republican primary, but Cannon's camp says the total was $80,000 — more than challenger Matt Throckmorton raised and spent on his campaign.

Those efforts drew the attention of political insiders in Washington, D.C., including the Wall Street Journal's editorial page. Arizona Reps. Jeff Flake and Jim Kolbe were among those who watched with interest.

Cannon beat Throckmorton, 58 percent to 42 percent.

The Journal called it a "Throckmorton thumping" and said it should convince Republican candidates that Cannon-style immigration reform can be a political winner.

Throckmorton called the loss disappointing on a national level.

"The two races in Arizona won't be as close as this one," he predicted. "This is carte blanche. There's no incentive now not to run open-borders legislation. The political message sent is that if you run, you'll get some folks upset and you'll have to run hard, but taking that stance will have little impact."

Arizona's Flake said Cannon's victory provided a good indication of where American voters stand on immigration policy.

"I think the relatively large margin of victory and his position on the issue indicate people understand our immigration policy is a massive failure right now, at huge costs to Utah, Arizona and other states," Flake told the Deseret Morning News.

"The president has embraced meaningful immigration reform, and people want this serious issue taken seriously. People who believe we can seal the borders and throw people out aren't being serious."

Utah political strategists said Throckmorton's loss was striking because Cannon's last primary opponent, Jeremy Friedbaum in 1998, picked up 24 percent of the vote without campaigning.