UTAH ELECTION: CANNON WINS, ROVE LOSES.
So it seems that
immigration enthusiast Chris Cannon is going to win the Utah 3rd Congressional District primary after all. As of
11pm Mountain Time, Cannon had 58.5% of the vote against Matt Throckmorton's 41.5% with all precincts reporting.
This is bad news, in its way. Cannon -- the recipient of the MALDEF's 2002 "
Excellence in Leadership Award", a principal sponsor of the disastrous AgJobs bill,
big league congressional supporter of Bush amnesty schemes, and apparent subject of a
federal election violations investigation (Cannon
invited illegals and their children to donate to his campaign) -- is the worst kind of Republican there is. Now that he's won yet another term, we can count on him to continue doing his worst.
But the news is not all bad. In the first place, Cannon's opponent, two term state legislator
Matt Throckmorton, did much better than expected. Only two days ago, Throckmorton
polled at 13%. The 41.5% of the vote he actually received thus represents a remarkable surge.
It would appear that more Utah Republicans care about immigration reform than the Salt Lake Tribune cares to admit.
The other interesting thing about the election is the unexpectedness of it all. Throckmorton would in normal circumstances have been an alsoran. It is exceedingly rare for incumbents to get thrown out of Congress. And Cannon looked more secure than most. In addition to outspending his opponent
by many times, Cannon is a beltway darling and brother of Utah's GOP chairman. It is no surprise that Cannon won; it
is surprising that he won by such a small margin.
Republican primaries continue. Let's hope that Karl Rove is watching.
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