2016 Utah gubernatorial election

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2016 Utah gubernatorial election

← 2012 November 8, 2016 2020 →
 
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%

Herbert:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Weinholtz:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Tie:      40–50%      50%
     No data

Governor before election

Gary Herbert
Republican

Elected Governor

Gary Herbert
Republican

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.

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[edit]

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[edit]

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]

Candidates[edit]

Declared[edit]

Polling[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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

Candidates[edit]

Declared[edit]

Withdrew[edit]

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

Declined[edit]

General election[edit]

Debates[edit]

Predictions[edit]

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[16] Safe R August 12, 2016
Daily Kos[17] Safe R November 8, 2016
Rothenberg Political Report[18] Safe R November 3, 2016
Sabato's Crystal Ball[19] Safe R November 7, 2016
Real Clear Politics[20] Safe R November 1, 2016
Governing[21] Safe R October 27, 2016

Polling[edit]

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%
Hypothetical polling
with Jonathan Johnson
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Jonathan
Johnson (R)
Mike
Weinholtz (D)
Other Undecided
SurveyUSA June 6–8, 2016 1,238 ± 2.8% 38% 35% 9% 17%
Gravis Marketing May 31–June 1, 2016 1,519 ± 2.5% 40% 29% 31%
with Jim Matheson
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Gary
Herbert (R)
Jim
Matheson (D)
Other Undecided
UtahPolicy/Dan Jones March 30–April 7, 2015 601 ± 4.0% 57% 33% 11%

Results[edit]

2016 Utah gubernatorial election[22]
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

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Official Utah Election Calendar". Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "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". April 23, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Roche, Lisa (June 28, 2016). "Gov. Gary Herbert wins GOP nomination". Deseret News. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Leonard, Wendy (April 23, 2016). "Utah Dems nominate Weinholtz to run for governor". Deseret News.
  6. ^ "Utah Governor Results: Gary Herbert Wins". The New York Times. 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 January 22, 2016.
  11. ^ Cook, Vaughn. "Personal Note from Vaughn Cook". Utah County Democrats Facebook Page. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  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 October 15, 2018.
  17. ^ "Elections 2015-16". Daily Kos. Retrieved October 15, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  18. ^ "Gubernatorial Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  19. ^ "Our Final 2016 picks". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Archived from the original on October 15, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  20. ^ "2016 Election Maps - 2016 Governor Races". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  21. ^ "2016 Governors Races Ratings & News". Governing Magazine. Archived from the original on October 27, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  22. ^ "Utah Election Official Results" (PDF). Utah Secretary of State. Retrieved December 28, 2016.

External links[edit]

Official campaign websites