2016 Utah gubernatorial election

The 2016 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016,[1] to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Utah, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

2016 Utah gubernatorial election

November 8, 2016

Nominee Gary Herbert Mike Weinholtz Party Republican Democratic Running mate Spencer Cox Kim Bowman Popular vote 750,850 323,349 Percentage 66.7% 28.7%

County Results Herbert:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Weinholtz:      40-50%

Governor before election Gary Herbert Republican Elected Governor Gary Herbert Republican

Incumbent Republican Governor Gary Herbert ran for re-election to a second full term in office.[2] Republican challenger Jonathan E. Johnson defeated Herbert in the state convention to secure a spot on the primary ballot,[3] but Herbert won the June 28, 2016 primary and secured the nomination.[4] The Democratic party nominated former CHG Healthcare Services CEO Mike Weinholtz at the Utah Democratic convention in April.[5]

Herbert won the general election, defeating Weinholtz by a large margin.[6][7]

Background

Republican Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. resigned in August 2009 to become United States Ambassador to China and Lieutenant Governor Herbert succeeded him. He was elected to serve out the remainder of Huntsman's term in a 2010 special election and was re-elected to a full four-year term in 2012.

Republican nomination

Former Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives Rebecca D. Lockhart was widely believed to be a potential Republican candidate, but she died of a rare neurodegenerative brain disease in January 2015.[2][8]

Incumbent governor Gary Herbert won the June 28, 2016 primary, defeating Overstock.com Chairman Jonathan Johnson.[4]

Declared

• Gary Herbert, incumbent Governor[2]
• Jonathan "JJ" Johnson, businessman and chairman of the board of Overstock.com[2][9]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Gary Herbert	Jonathan Johnson	Undecided
SurveyUSA	June 6–8, 2016	517	± 4.1%	69%	24%	6%

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gary Herbert (incumbent)	176,866	71.75%
	Republican	Jonathan Johnson	69,663	28.25%
Total votes			246,529	100.00%

Democratic nomination

Weinholtz defeated Cook at the Democratic convention to become the nominee.

Declared

• Mike Weinholtz, former Chairman and CEO of CHG Healthcare Services[10][5]

Withdrew

• Vaughn R Cook, founder and CEO of ZYTO Technologies[11]

Declined

• Ed Allen, former State Senator[12]
• Jim Dabakis, State Senator and former Chairman of the Utah Democratic Party[13]
• Jim Matheson, former U.S. Representative[14]
• Ben McAdams, Mayor of Salt Lake County and former State Senator[15]

General election

Debates

• Complete video of debate, September 26, 2016 - C-SPAN

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[16]	Solid R	November 3, 2016
Sabato's Crystal Ball[17]	Safe R	November 7, 2016
Rothenberg Political Report[18]	Safe R	November 3, 2016
Daily Kos[19]	Safe R	November 7, 2016
Real Clear Politics[20]	Safe R	November 1, 2016

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Gary Herbert (R)	Mike Weinholtz (D)	Other	Undecided
SurveyMonkey	November 1–7, 2016	1,479	± 4.6%	58%	38%	—	4%
SurveyMonkey	Oct 31–Nov 6, 2016	1,428	± 4.6%	59%	38%	—	3%
Y2 Analytics→	November 1–3, 2016	500	± 4.4%	64%	26%	5%	5%
SurveyMonkey	Oct 28–Nov 3, 2016	1,327	± 4.6%	60%	37%	—	3%
Monmouth University	Oct 30–Nov 2, 2016	402	± 4.9%	63%	30%	5%	2%
SurveyMonkey	Oct 27–Nov 2, 2016	1,247	± 4.6%	60%	36%	—	4%
SurveyMonkey	Oct 26–Nov 1, 2016	1,057	± 4.6%	61%	34%	—	5%
SurveyMonkey	October 25–31, 2016	1,078	± 4.6%	61%	35%	—	4%
UtahPolicy/Dan Jones	October 12–18, 2016	818	± 3.4%	64%	25%	6%	5%
Monmouth University	October 10–12, 2016	403	± 4.9%	63%	30%	2%	5%
UtahPolicy/Dan Jones	September 1–9, 2016	605	± 4.0%	62%	24%	6%	7%
Public Policy Polling	August 19–21, 2016	1,018	± 3.1%	57%	21%	7%	14%
SurveyUSA	June 6–8, 2016	1,238	± 2.8%	55%	34%	4%	6%
Gravis Marketing	May 31–June 1, 2016	1,519	± 2.5%	56%	29%	15%	—

• → Internal poll conducted on behalf of the Utah Republican Party.

Results

2016 Utah gubernatorial election[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Gary Herbert (incumbent)	750,850	66.74%	-1.67%
	Democratic	Mike Weinholtz	323,349	28.74%	+1.16%
	Libertarian	Brian Kamerath	34,827	3.10%	+0.85%
	Independent American	Superdell Schanze	15,912	1.41%	N/A
	Independent	L.S. Brown (write-in)	97	0.01%	N/A
Total votes			'1,125,035'	'100.0%'	N/A
	Republican hold

References

1. "Official Utah Election Calendar". Archived from the original on 2016-03-20. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
2. "Governor Herbert says he will run for re-election in 2016". The Salt Lake Tribune. June 25, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
3. "Fox 13 Utah: Governor Gary Herbert Forced Into Primary Election by Jonathan "JJ" Johnson".
4. Roche, Lisa (June 28, 2016). "Gov. Gary Herbert wins GOP nomination". Deseret News. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
5. Leonard, Wendy (April 23, 2016). "Utah Dems nominate Weinholtz to run for governor". Deseret News.
6. "Utah Governor Results: Gary Herbert Wins". August 1, 2017 – via NYTimes.com.
7. Price, Michelle L. "Herbert wins re-election as governor". The Spectrum.
8. "Becky Lockhart, Utah's first female House speaker, dies". FOX13. January 17, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
9. Frandsen, Eric (March 13, 2015). "Former Overstock CEO speaking in Logan Monday and wants to be Utah's next governor". Cache Valley Daily. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
10. Gehrke, Robert. "Democrat relies on outsider status, business success in bid for Utah governor". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
11. Cook, Vaughn. "Personal Note from Vaughn Cook". Utah County Democrats Facebook Page. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
12. Schott, Bryan (November 30, 2015). "2016 Candidate Tracker - Congressional and Statewide Offices". Utah Policy. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
13. "GOP Utah governor candidate Johnson to debate Democratic lawmaker Dabakis". The Salt Lake Tribune. November 25, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
14. "Is a run for governor or Senate in Matheson's future?". The Salt Lake Tribune. December 23, 2013. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
15. Cheney, Kyle (December 29, 2014). "16 in '16: The new battle for the Senate". Politico. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
16. "2016 Governor Race ratings". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
17. "Our Final 2016 picks". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
18. "Gubernatorial Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
19. "Elections 2015-16". Daily Kos. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
20. "2016 Election Maps - 2016 Governor Races". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
21. "Utah Election Official Results" (PDF). Utah Secretary of State. Retrieved December 28, 2016.

External links

Official campaign websites

• Gary Herbert (R) for Governor
• Mike Weinholtz (D) for Governor