Every time an immigration enforcement proponent loses a seat in Congress, the open-borders Wall Street Journal and their ilk use it to argue that Republicans need to support shamnesty to maintain political viability. The WSJ falsely framed the 2006 midterm election losses of GOP Reps. John Hostettler, Randy Graf, and J.D. Hayworth as electoral rejection of strict enforcement of immigration laws–conveniently ignoring the fact their opponents campaigned to their right on the issue.

Well, what will the WSJ and company say about what happened today to one of their favorite shamnesty/DREAM Act shills, GOP Rep. Chris Cannon? The six-term incumbent went down in flames in the Utah primary, defeated by Republican Jason Chaffetz–an underfunded political newcomer who made opposition to illegal immigration, rejection of amnesty, and support for tough deportation policies a top campaign issue. Cannon outspent Chaffetz 7-to-1 and had the entire GOP establishment from the White House on down backing him.

Cannon’s open-borders supporters can spin it all they want. They’ll shamelessly accuse the same voters who stuck with Cannon for six terms of incurable bigotry. But the simple fact is that voters finally got fed up with Cannon’s constant water-carrying for La Raza and MALDEF (watch him proudly boast, “We love immigrants in Utah. And we don’t oftentimes make the distinction between legal and illegal. In fact I think Utah was the first state in the country to legislate the ability to get a drivers license based on the matricula consular and of that I am proud.”) They got sick of the lies and arrogance (for my personal experience with the bloviatingly crude, rude, and clueless Cannon, see here.) They got sick of Washington business as usual.

Now, this is real hope and change from a real maverick–a Republican running unashamedly and unequivocally as a conservative:

He favors deporting illegal immigrants, abolishing the Education Department and cutting a slew of federal programs unless they can prove they’re working.

Via the Salt Lake Tribune:

Jason Chaffetz’s promise to change Washington, starting with Rep. Chris Cannon, resonated with Republican voters, who appear to have ousted the six-term incumbent in a Republican primary tonight.

“You rock, and you rocked the Republican Party,” Chaffetz told supporters gathered in Springville, shortly after polls closed. “We’ve done this all with volunteers, with no free meals and no polling. We’ve done it the right way. You can never convince me that one person can’t make a difference.”

… Chaffetz fell 10 votes shy of eliminating Cannon at the Utah Republican Convention, forcing him to a primary. Cannon out-raised Chaffetz by nearly 7-to-1, had the endorsements of President Bush and Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennet, and spent tens of thousands of dollars on polling.

Message to pro-immigration enforcement, anti-amnesty, pro-secure borders forces: Yes, we can!

***

Just in from the NRCC:

T-03 (R, Cannon)

In a Republican stronghold, Jason Chaffetz defeated incumbent Rep. Chris Cannon in Utah’s 3rd District. After a strong showing at the Republican Convention in May, Chaffetz ran a grassroots campaign that centered on changing the way Washington does business—a theme that will be equally pertinent during the general election in the fall. Jason Chaffetz proved he is a tough campaigner with an effective message. There is no doubt that he will be the next representative for Utah’s 3rd District.

Jason Chaffetz attended Brigham Young University, where he was the place-kicker for the BYU football team and earned his degree in Communications. Chaffetz later served as campaign manager and Chief of Staff for Governor Jon Huntsman.

History: The 3rd District was carried by President Bush in 2004 with 77% of the vote and in 2000 with 75% of the vote.

Geography: The 3rd Congressional District is located in the central and western parts of Utah. The district includes all or part of the following counties: Beaver, Juab, Millard, Salt Lake, San Pete, Sevier and Utah Counties.

Statewide Roundup

The following are the unofficial results from Tuesday’s primary election in Utah.

These results are UNOFFICIAL and INCOMPLETE until certified by the Utah Secretary of State:

DISTRICT/NAME RAW VOTE %__

*Indicates Incumbent

District 3:

Chris Cannon 12,269 39.84%

Jason Chaffetz 18,526 60.16% (DECLARED WINNER)

78.58% of Precincts Reporting

*The Salt Lake Tribune has declared a winner in UT-03

And more from The Hill.