Candidate Tina Cannon of Mountain Green in Morgan County says that she’s the only resident of the 1st Congressional District in the running to replace U.S. Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT).
MORGAN COUNTY – In the wake of the GOP Nominating Convention on April 23, former Morgan Country commissioner Tina Cannon is the only candidate for the 1st District seat that actually lives in the 1st Congressional District.
“Self-representation matters to me,” says Cannon of Mountain Green in Morgan County, “and I believe it matters to the majority of residents of Congressional District 1.
“Andrew Badger claims to live in the district,” she adds. “But, when pressed on this, he will admit that he does not currently own or rent within CD1.
“He returned to Utah in January 2022 to run for Congress in CD1. He has neither lived nor voted in this district prior to that time.”
As for the incumbent, U.S. Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT), even after the boundaries of the 1st Congressional District were gerrymandered by the Legislative Redistricting Committee in the fall of 2021, still lives outside of the 1st District.
“When (Congressman Moore) and his wife returned to Utah after serving abroad (with the U.S. State Department),” according to his communications director Caroline Tucker, “he took a job in Salt Lake City. He subsequently moved closer to his wife’s parents for help with their young family, which includes a child with special needs.
“His home is now one block away from the new 1st District boundary line,” she acknowledged.
Cache County Clerk/Auditor Jess Bradfield says that there is nothing in the laws of the state of Utah that says that you have to live in the district you represent.
But Cannon says that the presumption of residency is still there.
“This is not the case in any of the other three districts in Utah,” she argues. “All of the challengers to sitting congressmen live in the districts they are running in.
“I know whose interest I will represent … I’m all in on Utah’s 1st Congressional District. I choose to live here.”
There were four GOP challengers to Moore prior to the nominating convention. In addition to Badger and Cannon, they were Ogden businessman William Campbell and Mayor Julie Fullmer of Vineyard.
Fullmer was the twice-elected mayor of the Utah County community, also outside the 1st District’s boundaries.
Two rounds of balloting at the GOP state convention eliminated Campbell, Cannon and Fullmer.
In the third round of balloting, former civilian intelligence officer Badger narrowly missed capturing the party’s nomination with 59.2 percent of the ballots cast as opposed to Moore’s 40.7 percent.
Cannon is also still in the running, because she had already qualified to have her name on the June 28 GOP primary ballot by collecting voter signatures.
In contrast to Moore’s reputation for bipartisanship, the GOP delegates seemed to reward Badger’s fiery rhetoric promising no compromise with Democrats.
Cannon says that residents of the 1st District deserve to be represented by one of their neighbors. But Moore’s staff staunchly defend him on the issue of self-representation.
“Blake’s challengers are grasping at straws by making this their core issue,” Tucker says.
“He’s an Ogden boy,” she emphasizes, “born and raised in Weber County. He earned transcripts from all three major universities in the 1st District and has lived in Cache and Davis counties.
“He has broad support in northern Utah because of what he’s done to protect Hill Air Force Base and how he’s helping Utahns stay focused on the real issues facing them.”
Those issues include crippling inflation, rising gas prices and weak foreign policy from the Biden administration.
“Serving the community that built him is Congressman Moore’s top priority,” Tucker adds. “He is committed to continuing his work on solutions to the crises impacting Utahns in the 1st District.”
Moore will face off against Badger and Cannon in the June 28 Republican primary.