Citing the need for a “fearless conservative” in Washington, D.C., Morgan County Councilwoman Tina Cannon officially announced her intent to run for northern Utah’s 1st Congressional District on Tuesday.
In a two-minute video posted to YouTube, Cannon references her pioneer roots, subtly aligns herself with President Donald Trump and expresses support for bolstering national defense local management of northern Utah’s public lands.
“It’s time for a new perspective, a new voice in Washington — someone who stands for the values that made America great and will make America great,” she says. “I’m running for Congress because Washington, D.C., needs a fearless conservative who will do what’s right, who will vote with integrity and principle. A conservative who leads with Utah values.”
Cannon, a Utah native and Mountain Green resident, is listed on the Federal Election Commission’s website as the sole candidate in the 2020 race to replace Republican Rep. Rob Bishop. He will retire from Congress as the state’s longest-serving member of the current delegation and is now rumored to be considering a gubernatorial bid.
Kaysville Mayor Katie Witt has also announced she is exploring a run for Bishop’s seat and said she plans to make an official announcement of whether to move forward with her campaign in the coming weeks.
No woman has ever been elected to Utah’s 1st Congressional District, which covers Weber County, as well as northern Davis County and eight other counties in northern Utah. Cannon said she is working a “grassroots campaign” to earn the support of Utahns in all of them.
The small-business owner and tax accountant told The Salt Lake Tribune that she has largely appreciated Bishop’s leadership in the 1st District and says that even when they disagree, “I can have a great conversation with him and we can have an exchange of thoughts and ideas,” she said.
One of the areas on which she disagreed with him was on the budget deal recently approved by Congress.
“I’m an accountant by trade and I feel like we’re in need of one good accountant and so I probably would not have signed that," she said. "I worry about the debt and there seems to be a lot of out-of-control spending, which is both a Republican and a Democrat issue. It doesn’t seem to be a partisan thing; we seem to want to spend beyond our means.”
Bishop and Rep. Chris Stewart, both Republicans, voted for the deal, while GOP Rep. John Curtis and Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams opposed it.
If elected, Cannon says she wants to get the federal government “out of our way so we can grow and prosper.” If elected, she promised to work to strengthen Hill Air Force Base and to advocate for strong border defense.
“We have to know who’s here and how long they’ll be staying,” she says in her video. “It’s just common sense.”
Cannon has served two terms on the Morgan County Council and is the former chairwoman of the county Republican Party. The mother of four noted in a press release that she is also a volunteer with the Utah Parent Center and was named the 2018 Utah Mother of the Year by the Utah Mothers Association.
