Rep. Cannon behind in Utah congressional primary

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Utah voters are deciding Tuesday if one of the most conservative members of Congress is conservative enough, choosing between Rep. Chris Cannon and a challenger who pledges to be even tougher on illegal immigration and federal spending than the incumbent.

Cannon, seeking the Republican nomination for a seventh term in Congress, trailed GOP challenger Jason Chaffetz in early returns Tuesday. Chaffetz, a former Brigham Young University place kicker, served as chief of staff for popular Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman.

With 24 percent of precincts reporting, Chaffetz led Cannon with 57 percent of the vote.

Also on Tuesday's ballot, voters are picking the Republican nominee for state treasurer in a race that's been mired in accusations of bribery.

In one of the nation's most conservative states, whoever wins the Republican congressional primary is virtually assured of winning in the November general election.

Chaffetz had hoped to knock Cannon out of office in May during the state Republican convention, but he came up just a few votes shy of winning the nomination outright and avoiding a primary.

Chaffetz, 41, has portrayed Cannon as a fiscally irresponsible incumbent who has been in office too long and supports immigration policies that amount to amnesty.

Cannon, 57, has advocated for a guest-worker program that doesn't punish businesses and allows immigrants to travel freely across the border. He opposes offering citizenship to illegal immigrants and voted to build a wall on the Mexican border to keep immigrants out.

But that position has put him in hot water with Republicans, and he faced a tough challenge in 2006 from Republican John Jacob, whose campaign faltered after Jacob said the devil was working against him.

"People see a flood of people moving here with no accountability. There's no political will to enforce the law, and people are getting frustrated by it," said Kelly Cook, a retired accountant who supported Chaffetz at the state convention. "Nobody would have a problem if they came here legally and assimilated to the culture, but that's not happening."

Chaffetz wants to deport illegal immigrants and eliminate automatic citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants in the U.S. He says Congress has taken too long to fix federal immigration policy and that Republicans blew their chance to make positive changes when they controlled the House and Senate.

Cannon said he's voted according to the wishes of his constituents.

"I'll tell you, people all over my district are angry. You can see a very general anger at Republicans ... Why weren't these problems solved?" he said. "But if they look at what role I've played, rather than what's happened generally, I've been right on all these issues for a very long time."

In the state treasurer's race, voters are selecting a new treasurer for the first time in 28 years. Republican Edward Alter isn't seeking re-election but has endorsed his chief deputy, Richard Ellis, for the post.

Ellis is facing a primary against Mark Walker, a two-term state representative who has the backing of legislative leaders. With 42 percent of precincts reporting, Ellis led Walker with 59 percent of the vote.

Ellis alleges Walker offered to let him keep his job and give him a 53 percent pay raise if he would drop out of the race. Walker denies any wrongdoing.

A complaint has been filed with the state elections office, but its chief, Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, will not decide if an investigation is warranted until after the primary to avoid influencing the election.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080625/ap_on_el_ho/utah_primary [link]