Rep. Chris Cannon's convention and primary election shellackings by Jason Chaffetz came courtesy of Michael Dukakis.

"And he has been listening to my precinct jazz since he can remember, right? So he organizes every damn precinct in the congressional district. He spent a total of $168,000 in this campaign, and on Tuesday [June 24] he defeated Cannon by 20 percentage points. I mean two-zero. Now, doesn't surprise me. That's the way I got elected governor," Dukakis told the News.

Chaffetz -- who became a Republican in the early 1990s -- spent considerable time downplaying his connection with Dukakis during the early going of the campaign season.

On Monday, he agreed that Dukakis's early influence had a major impact on how he ran his campaign, which has been based on volunteer staff and connecting with small groups over and over.

"There's no doubt that that formula works, and he's preached that for a long time. I can still hear him saying that time and time again," said Chaffetz, who refers to Dukakis as "The Duke." The two are close because of familial relations. Chaffetz's father was once married to now-Kitty Dukakis, before marrying Chaffetz's mother.

The families are close enough that before Chaffetz met with Mitt Romney on a recent East Coast swing, he had breakfast with Dukakis. (As was reported he would, Romney publicly endorsed Chaffetz on Monday.)

When asked Monday if he had any political leanings in line with Dukakis, Chaffetz at first said no.

"I can't think of any," he said before following up that they agree on the importance of public service. "He always suggested and encouraged people to get involved no matter where they are on the political spectrum."

In the News interview, Dukakis acknowledges that even though Chaffetz and his brother Alex spent some school vacations with the family, ideologically they are far apart.

"These days, he's to the right of Marie Antoinette," Dukakis said.