Immigration heats race

OREM — From New York to Los Angeles, the immigration issue is spurring national interest in this month's Republican primary race between Utah 3rd District Congressman Chris Cannon and challenger John Jacob.

Meanwhile Utah's radio airwaves began to crackle with ads from the two candidates, as Jacob's campaign issued three spots over Thursday and Friday to counter Cannon's initial ad, released the week prior.

Cannon responded with a new ad of his own late Friday afternoon as the candidates position themselves for the June 27 primary, which actually begins next week with early voting at select locations.

The cluster of campaign media buys followed a lengthy article published Tuesday on the Wall Street Journal's Web site that framed the national immigration debate around the Utah race. A story last week in the Los Angeles Times portrayed the immigration issue as a re-election minefield for Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, including Cannon.

"A GOP primary for a Utah House seat in the country's most conservative congressional district may set the boundaries for any legislation that has a chance of passing both the House and Senate," wrote John Fund, a Wall Street Journal editorial page writer.

Fund speculated that a loss by Cannon in the June 27 primary could motivate other House Republicans to block any bill that creates a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

"House Republicans are already spooked about immigration, and should one of our own lose on the issue, you will see panic break out," one GOP congressman told Fund.

Both Utah campaigns said Fund's Journal piece sparked campaign contributions. Cannon campaign manager Nathan Rathbun said donors who have appreciated Cannon's voting record on other issues were motivated by the article to come to Cannon's aid.

Jacob campaign manager Randy Minson said small donations from people who want stronger immigration policies than Cannon has supported have poured in from more than 25 states in the four days since Fund's article was posted on wsj.com.

"It's an issue that's obviously polarizing in this race and others," Minson said.

Cannon beat a Republican challenger, Matt Throckmorton, two years ago, when Throckmorton ran almost solely on immigration and benefited from tens of thousands of dollars spent by national anti-immigration groups. None of those groups have entered this campaign, but Cannon's first 60-second radio ad anticipated the import of the issue and launched his effort to show that his ideas aren't very different than other national Republicans.

"Why would someone run against a strong conservative like Chris?" a woman says in the ad.