The 2004 Utah gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2004. The incumbent governor was Republican Olene S. Walker, who had become governor following Mike Leavitt's resignation to join the George W. Bush administration. However, Walker placed fourth in the Republican primary, far behind Jon Huntsman Jr. Huntsman won the nomination and went on to win the general election, carrying 25 of the 29 counties and winning 57.7% of the overall vote. This was the last time that a Democratic nominee for any statewide office has received forty percent or more of the popular vote, and the most recent election in which a Democratic gubernatorial nominee carried the counties of

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

and

Salt Lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

Background

In March 2003, Huntsman resigned his post in the Bush administration. In mid-August, three term incumbent Governor

Mike Leavitt Michael Okerlund Leavitt (born February 11, 1951) is an American politician who served as the 20th United States secretary of health and human services from 2005 to 2009 and the 10th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 200 ...

, 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 The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is the head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and is thus responsible for enforcing the nation's Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, as well as numerous other envir ...

under the Bush administration. Shortly thereafter, Huntsman filed papers to run for

Governor of Utah A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

. In November 2003,

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Olene S. Walker became the Utah's first female governor as Leavitt was confirmed to become EPA Administrator.

Democratic nomination

Scott Matheson, Jr. entered the race on March 27, 2004. He won the May Democratic nomination unopposed.

Republican primary

Convention

Candidates *Gary Benson, businessman *

James Hansen James Edward Hansen (born March 29, 1941) is an American climatologist. He is an adjunct professor directing the Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions of the The Earth Institute, Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is best ...

, U.S. Congressman of

Utah's 1st congressional district Utah's 1st congressional district serves the northern area of Utah, including the cities of Ogden, Utah, Ogden, Logan, Utah, Logan, Layton, Utah, Layton, Clearfield, Utah, Clearfield, parts of Park City, Utah, Park City and Salt Lake City, and th ...

* Parley Hellewell, State Senator *

Jon Huntsman, Jr. Jon Meade Huntsman Jr. (born March 26, 1960) is an American politician, businessman, and diplomat who served as the 16th governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the L ...

, Trade Ambassador for President Bush's administration and former CEO of Huntsman Chemical Corporation * Nolan Karras, State Representative *Fred Lampropoulos, CEO of Merit Medical Systems *Martin Stephens, State Representative *

Olene Walker Olene Walker (née Smith; November 15, 1930 – November 28, 2015) was an American politician who served as the 15th governor of Utah from 2003 to 2005, succeeding the governorship after Mike Leavitt's resignation. A member of the Republican P ...

, incumbent Governor Results, first round
Results, final round, instant-runoff

Primary

Candidates *

Jon Huntsman Jr. Jon Meade Huntsman Jr. (born March 26, 1960) is an American politician, businessman, and diplomat who served as the 16th governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the ambassador of the United States ...

, Trade Ambassador for President Bush's administration and former CEO of Huntsman Chemical Corporation * Nolan Karras, State Representative Campaign
Huntsman gained the endorsements from U.S. Senator

Jake Garn Edwin Jacob "Jake" Garn (born October 12, 1932) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Utah. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1974 to 1993. Garn ...

and former U.S. President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

. Polls showed he was the front-runner. Results

General election

Candidates

(R), Trade Ambassador for President Bush's administration and former CEO of Huntsman Chemical Corporation * Scott Matheson, Jr. (D), U.S. Attorney

Campaign

Jon Huntsman Jr., a former advisor for U.S. Presidents

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

, and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and son of industrialist

Jon Huntsman, Sr. Jon Meade Huntsman Sr. (June 21, 1937 – February 2, 2018) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder and executive chairman of Huntsman Corporation, a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals. Huntsman pl ...

—the founder of Huntsman Chemical Corporation—filed papers to run for governor in September 2003.

Jason Chaffetz Jason E. Chaffetz (; born March 26, 1967) is an American retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 until his resignation in 2017. He chaired the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2015 until 2017. Ch ...

was his campaign manager. In April 2004,

Utah County Utah County is the second-most populous county in the U.S. state of Utah. The county seat and largest city is Provo, which is the state's fourth-largest city, and the largest outside of Salt Lake County. As of the 2020 United States census ...

Commissioner

Gary Herbert Gary Richard Herbert (born May 7, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 17th governor of Utah from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the National Governors Association during the 2015–2016 cycle. Herbert w ...

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 The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a 2002 United States Act of Congress promoted by the presidential administration of George W. Bush. It reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and included Title I provisio ...

. He said he would leave a label on the door of the governor's office "Economic Development Czar" if he's elected. U.S. Attorney, former

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

professor, and dean of the University of Utah law school Scott Matheson, Jr. won the Democratic nomination unopposed. He is the son of former Utah Governor Scott Matheson who was also the last Democrat to be elected governor of the red state of Utah. He made education the number one priority. He explained how better schools would attract new business. In one television ad, he called himself "Utah's Education Governor." He criticized Huntsman for supporting school choice reform.

Predictions

Polling

In a March

Deseret Morning News The ''Deseret News'' () is a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LD ...

KSL-TV KSL-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Bonneville International, the for-profit broadcasting arm of the Church of Jesus C ...

poll, Matheson was leading all the Republicans running for the nomination except for Huntsman and Walker. An early September Jones poll showed Huntsman leading 49%-39%. An October 6

Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

poll showed Huntsman leading 49%-33%. An October 7 Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll showed Huntsman only leading 49%-40%. An October 29 Salt Lake Tribune poll showed Huntsman leading 50%-36%.

Fundraising

Huntsman raised a little over $3.5 million. Nearly $950,000 of the money raised was from his own personal loans and from family donations. He also raised 100,000 from the

Republican Governors Association The Republican Governors Association (RGA) is a Washington, D.C.–based 527 organization founded in 1961, consisting of U.S. state and territorial Republican governors. Its primary objective is to help elect and support Republican governors. Th ...

. Matheson raised almost $2.0 million. About one-fourth of Matheson's funds came from political committees, including $325,000 from the

Democratic Governors Association The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is a Washington, D.C.–based 527 organization founded in 1983, consisting of U.S. state and territorial List of current United States governors, governors affiliated with the Democratic Party (United St ...

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

(largest municipality: Blanding)