2016 Utah gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:	2016 Utah gubernatorial election
Country:	Utah
Flag Year:	2011
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2012 Utah gubernatorial election
Previous Year:	2012
Next Election:	2020 Utah gubernatorial election
Next Year:	2020
Election Date:	November 8, 2016
Image1:	File:Gary Herbert 2019.jpg
Nominee1:	Gary Herbert
Running Mate1:	Spencer Cox
Party1:	Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:	750,850
Percentage1:	66.74%
Nominee2:	Mike Weinholtz
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Running Mate2:	Kim Bowman
Popular Vote2:	323,349
Percentage2:	28.74%
Map Size:	220px
Governor
Before Election:	Gary Herbert
Before Party:	Republican Party (United States)
After Election:	Gary Herbert
After Party:	Republican Party (United States)

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.

Herbert won the general election, defeating Weinholtz by a large margin.^{[5] [6]}

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] [7]}

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

Candidates

Declared

• Gary Herbert, incumbent Governor^[2]
• Jonathan "JJ" Johnson, businessman and chairman of the board of Overstock.com^{[2] [8]}

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	class=small	Sample size	Margin of error	Gary Herbert	Jonathan Johnson	Undecided
SurveyUSA	June 6–8, 2016	517	± 4.1%	align=center	69%	24%	6% Results Democratic nomination Weinholtz defeated Cook at the Democratic convention to become the nominee. Candidates Declared Mike Weinholtz, former Chairman and CEO of CHG Healthcare Services^[9] ^[10] 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 Predictions Source Ranking As of align=left The Cook Political Report^[16] August 12, 2016 align=left Daily Kos^[17] November 8, 2016 align=left Rothenberg Political Report^[18] November 3, 2016 align=left Sabato's Crystal Ball^[19] November 7, 2016 align=left Real Clear Politics^[20] November 1, 2016 align=left Governing^[21] October 27, 2016 Polling Poll source Date(s) administered class=small Sample size Margin of error Gary Herbert (R) Mike Weinholtz (D) Other Undecided SurveyMonkey November 1–7, 2016 1,479 ± 4.6% align=center 58% 38% — 4% SurveyMonkey Oct 31–Nov 6, 2016 1,428 ± 4.6% align=center 59% 38% — 3% Y2 Analytics→ November 1–3, 2016 500 ± 4.4% align=center 64% 26% 5% 5% SurveyMonkey Oct 28–Nov 3, 2016 1,327 ± 4.6% align=center 60% 37% — 3% Monmouth University Oct 30–Nov 2, 2016 402 ± 4.9% align=center 63% 30% 5% 2% SurveyMonkey Oct 27–Nov 2, 2016 1,247 ± 4.6% align=center 60% 36% — 4% SurveyMonkey Oct 26–Nov 1, 2016 1,057 ± 4.6% align=center 61% 34% — 5% SurveyMonkey October 25–31, 2016 1,078 ± 4.6% align=center 61% 35% — 4% UtahPolicy/Dan Jones October 12–18, 2016 818 ± 3.4% align=center 64% 25% 6% 5% Monmouth University October 10–12, 2016 403 ± 4.9% align=center 63% 30% 2% 5% UtahPolicy/Dan Jones September 1–9, 2016 605 ± 4.0% align=center 62% 24% 6% 7% Public Policy Polling August 19–21, 2016 1,018 ± 3.1% align=center 57% 21% 7% 14% SurveyUSA June 6–8, 2016 1,238 ± 2.8% align=center 55% 34% 4% 6% Gravis Marketing May 31–June 1, 2016 1,519 ± 2.5% align=center 56% 29% 15% — → Internal poll conducted on behalf of the Utah Republican Party. with Jonathan Johnson Poll source Date(s) administered class=small Sample size Margin of error Jonathan Johnson (R) Mike Weinholtz (D) Other Undecided SurveyUSA June 6–8, 2016 1,238 ± 2.8% align=center 38% 35% 9% 17% Gravis Marketing May 31–June 1, 2016 1,519 ± 2.5% align=center 40% 29% 31% — with Jim Matheson Poll source Date(s) administered class=small Sample size Margin of error Gary Herbert (R) Jim Matheson (D) Other Undecided UtahPolicy/Dan Jones March 30–April 7, 2015 601 ± 4.0% align=center 57% 33% — 11% Results <	-- County Results Gary Herbert Republican Mike Weinholtz Democratic Brian Kamerath Libertarian Superdell Schanze Independent American L.S. Brown Write In Margin Total align=center County Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Total Votes Beaver 2,033 82.44% 324 13.14% 63 2.55% 46 1.87% 0 0.00% 1,709 69.30% 2,466 Box Elder 16,084 81.89% 2,564 13.05% 635 3.23% 357 1.82% 0 0.00% 13,520 68.84% 19,640 Cache 34,553 75.36% 9,025 19.68% 1,581 3.45% 681 1.49% 7 0.02% 25,528 55.68% 45,847 Carbon 5,574 70.29% 2,034 25.65% 180 2.27% 142 1.79% 0 0.00% 3.540 44,64% 7,930 Daggett 351 74.36% 104 22.03% 12 2.54% 5 1.07% 0 0.00% 247 52.33% 472 Davis 101,402 73.17% 30,720 22.17% 4,498 3.25% 1,946 1.40% 15 0.01% 70,682 51.00% 138,581 Duchesne 5,837 84.33% 715 10.33% 219 3.16% 151 2.18% 0 0.00% 5,122 74.00% 6,922 Emery 3,638 85.32% 483 11.33% 61 1.43% 82 1.92% 0 0.00% 3,155 73.99% 4,264 Garfield 1,888 80.72% 378 16.16% 47 2.00% 26 1.11% 0 0.00% 1,510 64.56% 2,339 Grand 2,266 % 2,067 % 156 % 50 % 0 % % Iron % % % % % % Juab % % % % % % Kane % % % % % % Millard % % % % % % Morgan % % % % % % Piute % % % % % % Rich % % % % % % Salt Lake % % % % % % San Juan % % % % % % Sanpete % % % % % % Sevier % % % % % % Summit % % % % % % Tooele % % % % % % Uintah % % % % % % Utah % % % % % % Wasatch % % % % % % Washington % % % % % % Wayne % % % % % % Weber % % % % % % --> Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Summit (largest municipality: Park City) By congressional district Herbert won all 4 congressional districts.^[22] District Herbert Weinholtz Representative 71% 24% Rob Bishop 62% 33% Chris Stewart 72% 24% Jason Chaffetz 61% 34% Mia Love External links Official campaign websites Gary Herbert (R) for Governor Mike Weinholtz (D) for Governor

Notes and References

1. Web site: Official Utah Election Calendar . 2016-05-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160320150044/https://vote.utah.gov/vote/menu/calendar.html . 2016-03-20 . dead .
2. News: Governor Herbert says he will run for re-election in 2016 . The Salt Lake Tribune . June 25, 2014 . August 22, 2014.
3. Web site: Fox 13 Utah: Governor Gary Herbert Forced Into Primary Election by Jonathan "JJ" Johnson. 23 April 2016.
4. News: Roche . Lisa . June 28, 2016 . Gov. Gary Herbert wins GOP nomination . Deseret News . June 29, 2016 .
5. News: Utah Governor Results: Gary Herbert Wins. The New York Times . August 1, 2017. NYTimes.com.
6. Web site: Herbert wins re-election as governor. Michelle L.. Price. The Spectrum.
7. News: Becky Lockhart, Utah's first female House speaker, dies. FOX13. January 17, 2015. January 18, 2015.
8. Web site: Former Overstock CEO speaking in Logan Monday and wants to be Utah's next governor. https://archive.today/20150315062958/http://www.cachevalleydaily.com/politics/article_a13fc958-c99d-11e4-97ec-97567f5e2e92.html. dead. March 15, 2015. Cache Valley Daily. March 13, 2015. March 14, 2015. Eric. Frandsen.
9. Web site: Democrat relies on outsider status, business success in bid for Utah governor. The Salt Lake Tribune. 2016-01-22. en-US. Robert. Gehrke.
10. News: Leonard . Wendy . April 23, 2016 . Utah Dems nominate Weinholtz to run for governor . Deseret News .
11. Web site: Personal Note from Vaughn Cook. Utah County Democrats Facebook Page. 2016-01-06. en-US. Vaughn. Cook.
12. Web site: 2016 Candidate Tracker - Congressional and Statewide Offices. Utah Policy. Schott. Bryan. November 30, 2015. December 25, 2015.
13. News: GOP Utah governor candidate Johnson to debate Democratic lawmaker Dabakis. The Salt Lake Tribune. November 25, 2015. December 19, 2015.
14. News: Is a run for governor or Senate in Matheson's future? . The Salt Lake Tribune . December 23, 2013 . December 24, 2013.
15. Web site: 16 in '16: The new battle for the Senate. December 29, 2014. December 29, 2014. Politico. Cheney. Kyle.
16. Web site: 2016 Governor Race ratings . The Cook Political Report . October 15, 2018.
17. Web site: Elections 2015-16 . Daily Kos . October 15, 2018 .
18. Web site: Gubernatorial Ratings . The Rothenberg Political Report . October 15, 2018.
19. Web site: Our Final 2016 picks . Sabato's Crystal Ball . October 15, 2018 . October 15, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181015114619/http://crystalball.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/our-final-2016-picks/ . dead .
20. Web site: 2016 Election Maps - 2016 Governor Races . Real Clear Politics . October 15, 2018.
21. Web site: 2016 Governors Races Ratings & News. Governing Magazine. October 28, 2016. October 27, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161027090343/http://www.governing.com/governor-races-2016. dead.
22. https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::34e5ac82-d619-4402-963a-9d1118f318f7