Utahns heading to polls today to decide primaries
The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. And it will be a first experience for voters using electronic, touch-screen voting machines throughout the state.
The Republican 3rd Congressional District race between five-term Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and challenger John Jacob is not only the top primary in Utah, but national Republicans and illegal-immigration groups are also watching the contest with interest.
The Cannon/Jacob race "has become ground zero" in the national immigration debate, Jacob said recently.
National pundits say should Cannon lose, House Republicans who've supported President Bush's more accommodating illegal-immigration approach will have to watch their political backs.
The 3rd District takes in the western half of Salt Lake County, all but the northeastern part of Utah County and several counties to the south.
A millionaire in land and water development who has basically self-funded his campaign, Jacob put an additional $60,000 of his own cash into the race Saturday, late-minute Federal Election Commission reports show. Altogether, Jacob has pumped $413,000 into his campaign.
An anti-illegal-immigration PAC — Team America — has spent more than $40,000 buying pro-Jacob/anti-Cannon radio ads in the state.
The outside attention has pushed Utah's 3rd District race into national significance in the immigration debate now raging in Congress and across the United States.
A Web search Monday found that in the past three months the race has generated 45 separate national news stories, including 10 stories in Roll Call, a newspaper that covers Congress, and stories in the Washington Times, Los Angeles Times, Congress Daily and on National Public Radio.
A poll published over the weekend by the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, found Cannon ahead — 46-33 percent among registered voters in the 3rd District. But 18 percent of voters remained undecided.
"That's one of the highest 'undecideds' numbers I've seen so close to a primary election," said Jones, who has polled in Utah for more than 30 years.
Among those who said they were "very interested" in the race, Cannon led 49-42 percent, Jones found. The outcome will likely depend on who turns out the most supporters, said Jones.
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