The 2016 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the

governor 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 ...

and

lieutenant governor of Utah The office of the lieutenant governor of Utah was created in 1975. Nine people have held the position since then. Prior to the creation of the lieutenant governor's office, the succession to the governorship of Utah was held by the Utah Secreta ...

, concurrently with the

2016 U.S. presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and ...

, as well as

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

and

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and various

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

Incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Republican governor

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 ...

ran for re-election to a second full term in office. Republican challenger Jonathan E. Johnson defeated Herbert in the state convention to secure a spot on the primary ballot, but Herbert won the June 28, 2016 primary and secured the nomination. The Democratic party nominated former

CHG Healthcare Services CHG Healthcare is an American healthcare services company that was founded in 1979 to deliver medical care to rural areas of the western United States. The company is based in Midvale, Utah. The company consists of a collection of healthcare-rel ...

CEO Mike Weinholtz at the Utah Democratic convention in April. Herbert won the general election, defeating Weinholtz by a large margin.

Background

Republican Governor

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 ...

resigned in August 2009 to become

United States Ambassador to China The United States ambassador to China is the chief United States diplomat to the People's Republic of China. The United States has sent diplomatic representatives to China since 1844, when Caleb Cushing, as commissioner, negotiated the Treaty ...

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 The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district cont ...

Rebecca D. Lockhart was widely believed to be a potential Republican candidate, but she died of a rare neurodegenerative brain disease in January 2015. Incumbent governor Gary Herbert won the June 28, 2016 primary, defeating Overstock.com Chairman Jonathan Johnson.

Candidates

Declared

, incumbent governor * Jonathan "JJ" Johnson, businessman and

chairman of the board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

Overstock.com Beyond, Inc. (formerly known as Overstock, Inc.) is an American internet retailer, online retailer that owns the "Bed Bath & Beyond" brand except for within Mexico and the "Overstock" brand, and runs online stores named with those brands. The M ...

Polling

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administered ! class=small , Sample
size ! Margin of
error ! style="width:100px;", Gary
Herbert ! style="width:100px;", Jonathan
Johnson ! Undecided , - ,

SurveyUSA SurveyUSA is a polling firm in the United States. It conducts market research for corporations and interest groups, but is best known for conducting opinion polls for various political offices and questions. SurveyUSA conducts these opinion poll ...

SurveyUSA
/ref> , align=center, June 6–8, 2016 , align=center, 517 , align=center, ± 4.1% , align=center, 69% , align=center, 24% , align=center, 6%

Results

Democratic nomination

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

Candidates

Declared

* Mike Weinholtz, former chairman and CEO of

Withdrew

* Vaughn R Cook, founder and CEO of ZYTO Technologies

Declined

* Ed Allen, former state senator *

Jim Dabakis Jim Dabakis is an American politician from Salt Lake City, Utah. While now a Republican for primary voting purposes, he served as a member of the Utah State Senate as a Democrat, where he represented the state's 2nd senate district. Early l ...

, State Senator and former chairman of the

Utah Democratic Party The Utah Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Utah. The party describes itself as a big tent party. It has very weak electoral power in the state. It controls none of Ut ...

Jim Matheson James David Matheson (born March 21, 1960) is an American politician who served as a United States Representative from Utah from 2001 to 2015. He represented Utah's 2nd district from 2001 to 2013 and its from 2013 to 2015 as a member of the De ...

, former U.S. representative *

Ben McAdams Benjamin Michael McAdams (born December 5, 1974) is an American politician and attorney who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from Utah's 4th congressional district from 2019 to 2021. During that time, he w ...

, Mayor of

Salt Lake County Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The co ...

and former state senator

General election

Debate

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Predictions

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The Cook Political Report Amy Elizabeth Walter (born October 19, 1969)"Profile: Amy Walter"
Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party and Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal American politics. The site publishes blog posts, polls, election and cam ...

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Rothenberg Political Report Stuart Rothenberg (born 1948) is an American editor, publisher, and political analyst. He is best known for his biweekly political newsletter ''The Rothenberg Political Report'', now known as ''Inside Elections''. He was also a regular columnis ...

, , November 3, 2016 , - , align=left ,

Sabato's Crystal Ball Larry Joseph Sabato (; born August 7, 1952) is an American political scientist and political analyst. He is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, where he is also the founder and director of the Center f ...

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Real Clear Politics RealClearPolitics (RCP) is an American political news website and polling data aggregator. It was founded in 2000 by former options trader John McIntyre and former advertising agency account executive Tom Bevan. It features selected politi ...

, , November 1, 2016 , - , align=left , Governing , , October 27, 2016

Polling

{, class="wikitable" , - valign= bottom ! style="width:160px;", Poll source ! style="width:160px;", Date(s)
administered ! class=small , Sample
size ! Margin of
error ! style="width:100px;", Gary
Herbert (R) ! style="width:100px;", Mike
Weinholtz (D) ! Other ! Undecided , - ,

SurveyMonkey SurveyMonkey Inc. (formerly Momentive Global Inc. from 2021 to 2023) is an experience management company that offers cloud-based software in brand insights, market insights, product experience, employee experience, customer experience, online sur ...

, align=center, November 1–7, 2016 , align=center, 1,479 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 58% , align=center, 38% , align=center, — , align=center, 4% , - ,

, align=center, Oct 31–Nov 6, 2016 , align=center, 1,428 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 59% , align=center, 38% , align=center, — , align=center, 3% , - ,

Y2 Analytics Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...

→ , align=center, November 1–3, 2016 , align=center, 500 , align=center, ± 4.4% , align=center, 64% , align=center, 26% , align=center, 5% , align=center, 5% , - ,

, align=center, Oct 28–Nov 3, 2016 , align=center, 1,327 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 60% , align=center, 37% , align=center, — , align=center, 3% , - ,

Monmouth University Monmouth University is a private university in West Long Branch, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956 and Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its university charter, c ...

, align=center, Oct 30–Nov 2, 2016 , align=center, 402 , align=center, ± 4.9% , align=center, 63% , align=center, 30% , align=center, 5% , align=center, 2% , - ,

, align=center, Oct 27–Nov 2, 2016 , align=center, 1,247 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 60% , align=center, 36% , align=center, — , align=center, 4% , - ,

, align=center, Oct 26–Nov 1, 2016 , align=center, 1,057 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 61% , align=center, 34% , align=center, — , align=center, 5% , - ,

, align=center, October 25–31, 2016 , align=center, 1,078 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 61% , align=center, 35% , align=center, — , align=center, 4% , - , UtahPolicy/ Dan Jones , align=center, October 12–18, 2016 , align=center, 818 , align=center, ± 3.4% , align=center, 64% , align=center, 25% , align=center, 6% , align=center, 5% , - ,

, align=center, October 10–12, 2016 , align=center, 403 , align=center, ± 4.9% , align=center, 63% , align=center, 30% , align=center, 2% , align=center, 5% , - , UtahPolicy/ Dan Jones , align=center, September 1–9, 2016 , align=center, 605 , align=center, ± 4.0% , align=center, 62% , align=center, 24% , align=center, 6% , align=center, 7% , - ,

Public Policy Polling Public Policy Polling (PPP) is an American polling firm affiliated with the Democratic Party. Founded in 2001 by businessman Dean Debnam, the firm is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Debnam died in 2024. Tom Jensen serves as the firm's directo ...

, align=center, August 19–21, 2016 , align=center, 1,018 , align=center, ± 3.1% , align=center, 57% , align=center, 21% , align=center, 7% , align=center, 14% , - ,

, align=center, June 6–8, 2016 , align=center, 1,238 , align=center, ± 2.8% , align=center, 55% , align=center, 34% , align=center, 4% , align=center, 6% , - ,

Gravis Marketing Gravis may refer to: * Advanced Gravis Computer Technology, manufacturer of computer peripherals, soundcards and joysticks * Dynamic Sport Gravis, a Polish paraglider design * Gravis ''(Ninjago)'', a character in ''Ninjago'' *Gravis, an alien in th ...

Gravis Marketing
/ref> , align=center, May 31–June 1, 2016 , align=center, 1,519 , align=center, ± 2.5% , align=center, 56% , align=center, 29% , align=center, 15% , align=center, — * → Internal poll conducted on behalf of the

Utah Republican Party The Utah Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Utah. It is currently the dominant party in the state, and has been for almost all of its history. It currently holds Utah's entire congressional delegation ...

. with Jonathan Johnson
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administered ! class=small , Sample
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error ! style="width:100px;", Jonathan
Johnson (R) ! style="width:100px;", Mike
Weinholtz (D) ! Other ! Undecided , - ,

, align=center, June 6–8, 2016 , align=center, 1,238 , align=center, ± 2.8% , align=center, 38% , align=center, 35% , align=center, 9% , align=center, 17% , - ,

, align=center, May 31–June 1, 2016 , align=center, 1,519 , align=center, ± 2.5% , align=center, 40% , align=center, 29% , align=center, 31% , align=center, — with Jim Matheson
{, class="wikitable" , - valign= bottom ! style="width:160px;", Poll source ! style="width:160px;", Date(s)
administered ! class=small , Sample
size ! Margin of
error ! style="width:100px;", Gary
Herbert (R) ! style="width:100px;", Jim
Matheson (D) ! Other ! Undecided , - , UtahPolicy/ Dan Jones , align=center, March 30–April 7, 2015 , align=center, 601 , align=center, ± 4.0% , align=center, 57% , align=center, 33% , align=center, — , align=center, 11%

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

(largest municipality: Park City)

By congressional district

Herbert won all 4 congressional districts. {, class=wikitable ! District ! Herbert ! Weinholtz ! Representative , - align=center ! , , 71% , 24% , ,

Rob Bishop Robert William Bishop (born July 13, 1951) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he became the dean of Utah's congressional delegation after the retirement of ...

, - align=center ! , , 62% , 33% , , Chris Stewart , - align=center ! , , 72% , 24% , ,

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 ...

, - align=center ! , , 61% , 34% , ,

Mia Love Ludmya "Mia" Love (née Bourdeau; December 6, 1975 – March 23, 2025) was an American political commentator and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Utah's 4th congressional district from ...

References

External links

Official campaign websites
Gary Herbert (R) for Governor

Mike Weinholtz (D) for Governor
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Gubernatorial Elections, 2016

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

2016 Utah elections