Cannon faces big fight

U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon will likely be facing the toughest political challenge of his career Saturday in the Utah Republican Convention.

Cannon, who seeks a sixth term in the 3rd Congressional District, faces northern Utah County millionaire John Jacob and former U.S. Rep. Merrill Cook from Salt Lake City.

District delegates can hand one of the men the nomination outright (if he gets 60 percent or more of the vote) or force two of them into a June 27 closed Republican Party primary.

In the final days before the convention, which will be held Saturday at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, the three candidates are optimistic about their chances. At the same time, none of them had any confidence that they would get out of the convention without a primary.

Cannon and Jacob were hedging toward meeting each other in a primary, although neither one was willing to discount Cook as a possible primary opponent. Cook, meanwhile, felt that he had a good chance of knocking out Jacob and qualifying for a primary against Cannon.

The most significant challenge facing the candidates, especially the two with previous congressional experience, is that the state delegates are a new breed, Cannon said. He said they are also very concerned with the immigration problem and are looking to him because of his previous work on the problem in Congress.

"They're younger, more aggressive and Internet-savvy, and they're looking for leadership," he said. "It's different than we've seen in previous years. But I think it could be a good thing."

For Jacob, those delegates are also asking for something Cannon and Cook cannot provide since they both have congressional experience: a new face in Washington. While he acknowledges Cannon's influence in Washington after 10 years, he said that it is not a selling point if people are not happy with some of the major decisions (or lack thereof) to come from national politicians on major issues like immigration.

Cannon "talks about how much power he has after 10 years in Congress. But it's not his power, it's the people's power," Jacob said. "The concept is, if you want things to stay the same, vote for one of the other candidates who have been in Congress. If you want something different, then vote for me."

Change in the congressional representation for the district is something that Cook agrees needs to happen, although he is banking on voters looking at his previous experience as a plus.

Delegates "are looking for a change because they feel that some issues — such as immigration or No Child Left Behind — have been mishandled," said Cook, who served in the 2nd Congressional District from 1997 to 2001. "But they also want proven experience in Congress. With me, they get the best of both worlds."