Chaffetz won by running on a strong platform of principled conservative change. Upon hearing of his defeat, a stunned Cannon exclaimed, "This is a revolution." He was right. It was a revolution for those who sought someone to represent them in Congress who identified with their conservative principles and values.

As we saw during the 1994 Republican revolution, Republicans win when they run on conservative principles and excite the party's conservative base to vote.

In contrast, they lose when they abandon those values and demoralize the base, as we saw during the 2006 elections when Republicans lost both houses of Congress.

During his victory speech, Chaffetz proclaimed, "The Republican Party is broken, and I want to fix it . . . . We've been given a mandate to return the Republican Party to its core conservative principles."

Like-minded conservative Utah Republican organizations, such as the Utah Republican Assembly and the Defend Utah Values political action committee, will be there to help him lead the way.

David Pyne

President, Salt Lake County

Republican Assembly

Taylorsville