Utah gubernatorial election, 2004
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Olene S. Walker
Republican Party
Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Republican Party
The Utah gubernatorial election in 2004 took place November 2, 2004. Huntsman won the election, carrying 25 of the 29 counties, winning 57.7% of the overall vote.
In March 2003, Huntsman resigned his post in the Bush administration. In mid-August, three term incumbent Governor Mike Leavitt, whom Huntsman strongly supported, decided not to run for re-election to a fourth term, in order to become the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Bush administration. Shortly thereafter, Huntsman filed papers to run for Governor of Utah. In November 2003, Lieutenant Governor Olene S. Walker became the Utah's first female governor as Leavitt was confirmed to become EPA Administrator.
Scott Matheson, Jr. entered the race on March 27, 2004. He won the May Democratic nomination unopposed.
Huntsman gained the endorsements from U.S. Senator Jake Garn and former U.S. President George H. W. Bush. Polls showed he was the front-runner.
Jon Huntsman Jr., a former advisor for U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush and son of industrialist Jon Huntsman, Sr.—the founder of Huntsman Chemical Corporation—filed papers to run for governor in September 2003.Jason Chaffetz was his campaign manager. In April 2004, Utah County Commissioner Gary Herbert decided to drop out of the Republican nomination and become Huntsman's running mate. Herbert helped Huntsman with the rural community. Huntsman campaigned on eliminating the sales tax on food and on ethics reform. He proposed that lawmakers have to disclose all their gifts, they have to report monthly their campaign contributions, and they can't work as lobbyists immediately after leaving state government. Huntsman opposed President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. He said he would leave a label on the door of the governor's office "Economic Development Czar" if he's elected.
...
Wikipedia