Chris Cannon

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Chris Cannon
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Utah's 3rd district
In office 1997–present
Preceded by	Bill Orton
Born	October 20, 1950 (1950-10-20) (age 57) Salt Lake City, Utah
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Claudia Ann Fox
Religion	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Christopher Black Cannon (born October 20, 1950) is a member of the United States House of Representatives, for the Republican Party, representing the third district of Utah,^[1] since 1997.

He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and attended Brigham Young University. From 1980 until 1996 he was a lawyer, business owner, and venture capitalist, from which he became a millionaire. Other jobs include time as a solicitor for the United States Department of the Interior from 1983 to 1986, and time as Utah Republican Party finance chairman from 1992 until 1994.

[edit] Family

Main article: Cannon Family

Chris Cannon is part of the well-known politically powerful Cannon Family of Utah. His brother, Joe Cannon is the former GOP State Party Chairman, and was appointed as Editor in Chief of the Deseret Morning News in November 2006.^[2] He is also the grandson, and great-grandson of Utah Congressmen, and cousins of other Utah Congressman.

[edit] Congressional career

Cannon is a member of the House Government Reform Committee. He serves on the Subcommittees on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources as well as Regulatory Affairs. Cannon is also a member of the House Resources Committee, serving on the Energy and Mineral Resources and Forests and Forest Health Subcommittees.

In 1999, as a member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, Cannon was one of the 13 House members who prosecuted the case against President Bill Clinton in the impeachment trial in the U. S. Senate.

In 2000, Cannon co-founded the Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine, which now has nearly 130 members from both major political parties.^[3]

In January 2001, Cannon hired David Safavian as his chief of staff. Safavian left on May 16, 2002, to take a position at the General Services Administration. Safavian was arrested in September 2005 in connection with the Jack Abramoff corruption case, and was convicted in June 2006 on four felony counts.

Cannon was named Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law at the beginning of the 108th Congress in January of 2003. As chairman he oversees legislation involving bankruptcy reform, privacy, interstate compacts and tort reform. He also serves on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property.

In January of 2003, Cannon was elected chairman of the influential Western Caucus, an organization of over 50 Congressmen working on resource management issues.

He is a cosponsor of HR 2043, legislation that would provide voting representation for the District of Columbia. The bill also gives another Congressional seat to Utah.^[4]

In both 2004 and 2005, Cannon received a 100% rating from the American Conservative Union ^[5]

[edit] Campaigns and challengers

[edit] 2004

In 2004, Cannon defeated Republican challenger Matt Throckmorton in the primary, getting 58.4% of the vote, in a race in which the major issue dividing the candidates was immigration policy. He then beat Democratic opponent Beau Babka 63%-33% in the November race. Cannon spent more than $600,000 to defeat Throckmorton and Babka. Throckmorton raised $84,000; Babka spent $35,000. The spending imbalance was offset to some extent by immigration reform groups that attacked Cannon through billboards, ads and Web sites, though these did not support his Democratic opponent.^[6]

Cannon's district is heavily Republican: President Bush received 77% of the vote in the district in 2004, his second highest percentage outside of Texas congressional districts.

[edit] 2006

[edit] Primary

Cannon faced opposition in the primaries from a fellow Republican for the first five times he ran (and won), but his opposition in 2006 seemed potentially stronger. In October 2005, millionaire real estate developer John D. Jacob announced that he would run against Cannon in 2006.^[6] In May 2006, at the state GOP convention, Jacob surprised Cannon by winning 52 percent of the delegate ballots. "Cannon’s 48 percent showing was especially poor, given that the ballots were cast mainly by the party insiders who dominate such conventions. (A Jacob victory with 60 percent would have denied Cannon the opportunity to wage a primary campaign.)"^[7] Team America PAC, a PAC dedicated to strict immigration enforcement "dropped $50,000 into an ad played widely on talk radio blasting Cannon's immigration record: 'A vote for John Jacob is a vote for cleaning up the immigration mess Chris Cannon helped make.'"^[8]

The Republican primary was held on June 27, 2006. Polls predicted a close race.^[9] Cannon received 32,306 votes (55.8%) and Jacob received 25,589 votes (44.2%).

[edit] General election

Cannon faced Democrat Christian Burridge,^[10] a consumer rights attorney and also a graduate of Brigham Young University's Law School, in November, as well as Jim Noorlander (Constitution Party)^[11] and Phil Hallman (Libertarian party). In the general election, Cannon received 92,621 votes (58%), Burridge 51,396 (37%), Noorlander 14,116 (9%) and Hallman 1,998 votes (1%). ^[12]

[edit] 2008

Chris Cannon received 40.9% of the state delegate vote at the 2008 Republican Utah State Convention and Jason Chaffetz received 59.01%. Since Chaffetz did not obtain the threshold of 60% required by the Utah State Republican Party Constitution to win the nomination at the convention, Cannon and Chaffetz will face off in a Republican Primary on June 24, 2008. David Leavitt, brother of former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt, also was vying for election, but after falling to third place on the first ballot, he endorsed Chris Cannon. Young Leavitt supporters then walked into the convention hall with newly toted signs in support of Cannon, which "The Salt Lake Tribune" termed "likely a violation of the convention rules." The rule supposedly referred to is "Physical Arrangements - 3(d)" which states "No signs may be placed in or around the staging area of the arena or in the convention hall between bleachers in the main Assembly Hall, expect as approved by the State Party," which prohibits the placement of signs in the convention hall, but not the carrying nor holding of signs. The supporters were asked to leave the hall by the state vice chairman and exited when called upon to do so. ^[13][14]

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Premium Beef of Nebraska

Cannon's financial disclosure statements show that he gave a loan of between $50,000 to $100,000 to Gary Ruse, an executive and later president of First National Bank of Nebraska, in September 1996. The following year, the bank made a loan of $250,000 to the Premium Beef of Nebraska company, a kosher beef packing plant in which Cannon was a major investor. Ruse said in an interview he played no part in getting Cannon the loan. It was a decision, he said, that was made by the bank's board of directors; he had recused himself.

The Premium Beef plant operated for a little more than a year before closing its doors, after the rabbi who oversaw the preparation of the meat died. Cannon's chief of staff, Joe Hunter, said that the assets of the business were liquidated and Cannon repaid the loan to the Nebraska bank in 2001. The plant was sold to a Hasidic Jewish sect that took several years but finally reopened it in 2005. Ruse, who left the bank, was hired as manager for the reopened plant.

Cannon's personal loan to Ruse remains outstanding.^[15] Cannon spokesman Charles Isom said that Ruse made a payment on the loan in late 1996 and then payments on the interest in 2000 and 2001. According to Cannon's financial disclosure forms, Cannon collected between $200 and $1,000 in interest on Ruse's loan in 2000 and 2001. He did not collect interest in 2002 or 2003 and has not otherwise received interest payments.^[16]

Cannon's office stressed that the congressman has made repeated efforts to collect the loan. Cannon's most recent financial disclosure forms show the amount outstanding is still over $50,000.

[edit] Lobbying by brother Joe Cannon

Chris Cannon's brother, Joseph Cannon, was chairman of the Utah Republican party, a former business partner of his brother, and leads a team of 10 lobbyists at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, a law and lobbying firm. Both Joe and Congressman Cannon admit that Joe had lobbied Cannon on three occasions, one of which was to join with three other lawmakers to press for a congressional hearing. They signed a letter that expressed concerns about a proposed contract — which is subject to approval by the Bush administration — between the Internet's primary oversight body (ICANN) and VeriSign Inc., a $4.2 billion California company. The agreement would permit VeriSign to increase the wholesale price it charges companies like Network Solutions for each Internet dot-com address from $6 per year to $7.86 — or more if it can justify further price increases. These price increases would then be passed onto Internet users.^{[citation needed]}

Cannon acknowledges helping his brother's clients, pointing out that he had been active on the issue in the past before being approached by his brother. "If my wife decided to lobby, then we would probably say, 'No talking to my office.' I just don't see my brother in the same category," Cannon said.^[17] Joe has stated that he will not lobby his brother in the future.^{[citation needed]}

Cannon has a financial interest in his brother's success: The lobbyist owes him more than $250,000, according to the lawmaker's financial disclosure reports. The debt stems from Joseph Cannon's unsuccessful campaign for the U. S. Senate in 1992.^[17] Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal advocacy organization, named Chris Cannon a "member to watch" on its list of "most corrupt" members of Congress for his dealings with brother.^[18]

[edit] Electoral history

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• U.S. Congressman Chris Cannon official House site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Congressman Chris Cannon official campaign site
• Beyond Abramoff: Gambling lobbyist joined with anti-gambling congressman, derailed gambling bills John Byrne, Raw Story, September 1, 2005

v • d • e Members of the Cannon Political Family George Q. Cannon • John Taylor • Angus Cannon • Martha Hughes Cannon John Q. Cannon • William Whitaker Taylor • Frank Cannon • Annie Wells Cannon • George M. Cannon • Joseph J. Cannon • Cavendish Cannon Edwin B. Cannon • Howard Cannon • Edwin Q. Cannon • Donald Cannon • Joe Cannon • Chris Cannon