You probably don’t know who Rep. Chris Cannon is, but he is a Republican that has represented America’s most conservative congressional district since 1997. Tonight he lost his primary in an unpredicted blowout to a real anti-immigration zealot named Jason Chaffetz. This district is Utah’s Third, and it will have a new representative next January. That new representative will almost certainly by Jason Chaffetz. In itself, this is a modestly bad thing. We’ve just lost one of the most conservative members of Congress for an even more conservative (and younger) member.
But this election also provides further confirmation that no Republican incumbent is safe. Rep. Cannon probably lost because he supported the president’s immigration reform, but Chaffetz also ran against No Child Left Behind and the budget deficits. Those are two signature Bush policies that don’t sit well with many conservatives. This Utah district will now lose seniority on the Judiciary, Natural Resources, and Oversight & Government Reform committees on which Cannon served. While Chaffetz is a wingnut of extraordinary proportions, he is not compromised by any Bush-supporting votes. Chaffetz will rail pointlessly against the Department of Education, Latinos, and abortion, and do nothing for his district. He’ll be the least senior member of an irrelevant party. But he won’t be guilty of supporting Bush. The rest of Republican caucus will surely take note.
