Jacob planning another run

PROVO — John Jacob made it clear Wednesday he plans to run for a Utah office again and said that next time he'll bring more money and seek establishment endorsements like the one President Bush gave his opponent.

But first he plans to raise cash for 3rd District Rep. Chris Cannon , R-Utah, the fellow Republican who beat him in Tuesday's primary.

Cannon will face Democrat Christian Burridge in the November general election, and Jacob wants to help replenish Cannon's war chest.

"I'm going to work on some fund-raising to make sure (Cannon) has the kind of money he needs to be able to get back to Washington," Jacob said. "I'm not sure he needs my help, but I know it cost a lot to get through the primary."

Jacob admitted being stung by the loss, especially the large margin, 56 percent to 44 percent.

"I thought I had a good chance of winning. A (12) percent difference wasn't a good chance. What I need is to get the president's support next time."

He declined to say whether he'd run against Cannon again, although he has told campaign staffers he won't. He could position himself to run in another district in two years. Utah is seeking a fourth seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Jacob naturally would be drawn to run for the new, open seat if it materializes.

The multimillionaire learned several tough lessons in his first state-wide race, including one about liquidity in a largely self-funded campaign. He memorably, and he said jokingly, blamed Satan during the final week of the race because delays in business deals made it impossible for him to free up cash he wanted to spend.

"I would have gotten more mailers out sooner," he said Wednesday. "I would have done more radio spots sooner. I would have done more television commercials and automated phone calls."

Meanwhile, Cannon had personal cash on hand to dump into the race after his lowest moment — the state Republican convention. That's when Jacob forced a primary by out scoring Cannon 52 percent to 48 in a ballot of party delegates.

"I obviously was a little surprised by the convention outcome," Cannon said. "We immediately started raising money, but it takes time for it to come in. After two weeks we decided we couldn't afford to be down, so I put ($120,000) in."

Cannon also deployed an aggressive, flexible phone message strategy, placing more than half-million automated phone calls with recordings from President Bush, Laura Bush and dozens of local leaders. The local leaders simply called a phone number, where their recorded message became part of a Web database.