From Welcome to Wary in Utah

Congressional analysts say Cannon's district is among the most conservative in the country. It stretches from the increasingly Latino western suburbs of Salt Lake City down the maze of shopping centers and Mormon temples at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains through Provo.

Provo was ranked as the most conservative city in the country in a study of voting patterns by a nonpartisan think tank last year. It is home to Brigham Young University, which was founded by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many Utahns have done missionary work in Latin America or elsewhere, and are eager to have new people settle in their state and convert to Mormonism. Cannon volunteered as a Mormon missionary in Central America.

"We're quite humanitarian-oriented," said Grant Mosbacher, 76, a retired banker and delegate to the GOP state convention, who attended a forum held by Cannon's challenger, Cook. "The Gospel says you should love everybody."

Cannon, who has unsuccessfully sponsored congressional bills that would legalize farmworkers, provide in-state college tuition to undocumented immigrant students and legalize those who excel in their studies, is a perennial target of anti-immigration forces. During his 2004 reelection campaign, those groups paid for billboards claiming that Cannon favored amnesty. He beat an anti-illegal immigration challenger in the GOP primary by 14 percentage points.