Illegal Immigration Threatens Republican Incumbent

Illegal immigration once again is going to be the deciding factor in a pending election. This one is a Republican primary in Utah. The incumbent is seeking his sixth tern in the House yet he has already lost a vote in convention and now faces possible defeat in Tuesday's primary.

Mr. Jacob surprised Mr. Cannon by winning the May Republican convention, although his victory -- 52 percent to 48 percent -- did not get the 60 percent support needed to avert a primary. But at the time, Mr. Jacob was hardly known outside the most active Republicans who attended the convention, and the polls then had him trailing by as much as 20 points among Republican voters in general. The new poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, shows that wide support for Mr. Jacob has since spread to party regulars.

House Republicans are banking their control of the chamber in November's elections on the issue of immigration and their resistance to any plan they see as amnesty, including the bill passed by the Senate last month. Though House leaders -- along with Mr. Bush -- support the incumbent in this race, they are watching it closely, aides say, to see how the issue of immigration plays out.

So far, the race has cost more than $1 million, according to both candidates, and it has been almost exclusively about immigration.

And watch they should because the issue is the issue that people are hinging their support on. Our "leaders" in the Senate and the President have completely misjudged the issue of illegal immigration and the voters are making it painfully know to those who seek office. To this point it has been Democrats that have born the brunt of their ire, now it is a Republican incumbent that may fall. If he does expect a new dance in the general election to gain popularity, the anti amnesty shuffle.

politics immigration Utah