SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon has lost his seat in Congress.
Jason Chaffetz defeated the six-term congressman in Utah's Republican primary Tuesday.
Cannon is one of the most conservative members of Congress, but Chaffetz told voters he's even more conservative.
He wants to deport illegal immigrants, abolish the U.S. Education Department and cut a slew of federal programs unless they can prove they're working.
Chaffetz will face Democratic candidate Spencer Bennion in the fall in the heavily Republican 3rd District.
Chaffetz was a kicker on the Brigham Young University football team in the 1980s and served as chief of staff for popular Gov. Jon Huntsman. The district is dominated by Utah County, south of Salt Lake City.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
SALT LAKE CITY (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 78 percent of precincts reporting, Chaffetz led Cannon with 60 percent of the vote.
Also on Tuesday's ballot, voters picked a Republican nominee for Utah treasurer in a race that was 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 picked a new treasurer for the first time in 28 years. Republican Richard Ellis, chief deputy to the current treasurer, won the primary against Mark Walker, a two-term state representative.
With 84 percent of precincts reporting, Ellis had 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.
Ellis filed a complaint with the state elections office. Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, also a Republican, waited until polls closed Tuesday to announce that an investigation into bribery allegations is warranted.
The Utah attorney general's office will handle any probe.
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