Cannon stresses his principles, experience

"It is really easy when you have a series of votes to get to talking and forget to vote," Cannon said. "When I am on the floor, I am always there with a list of several things to do, talking about co-sponsoring or what is your bill about, I have missions that I do on the floor."

He said he has never missed a vote that has been close or a difficult one. Even "at the worst times in my life," he stayed in touch with leadership to stay on top of the vote schedule and determine when he needed to be there to vote.

He said it is "ridiculous" to say that by missing that vote, he is soft on immigration or for Chaffetz to suggest missing votes means he is not doing his job.

"He doesn't know what he doesn't know," Cannon said of his opponent. "I actually know what I am talking about. I know what the path is. I know the complicated environment that we have to deal with to get to a solution, and he gets to talk in sound bites which are inherently self-contradictory."

Not only does Chaffetz use his own sound bites but he refers to some of Cannon's controversial statements from the past.

During the 2006 congressional page sex scandal where Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., sent graphic e-mails and instant message to the teens, Cannon called the pages "precocious," which means uncharacteristically mature or exhibiting mature qualities. That set off a flurry of criticism against Cannon. Cannon said that some of it stems from the fact people think the word means promiscuous, but it doesn't.

Cannon also took heat for saying that the shooter in the 2007 Trolley Square shooting shouted "Allah Akbar," or "God is great," something he had heard John Gibson of Fox News say earlier. Although police later said shooter Sulejman Talovic didn't say such a thing, Cannon still says he knows what he heard on the tape.

But regardless of missed votes or missteps in speech, Cannon still wants to return to the House to ensure that he can continue to serve the district and keep a conservative point of view on legislation.

"I think the challenges we face today are important and I have the tools to help meet those challenges," Cannon said. "I play a little role in one of the significant institutions in America. And I think I play in that role a significant part in making the right choices."

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E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com