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 nominee carried more than three counties in the state.

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 List of Governors of Utah, 14th Governor of Utah from 1993 to 2003 in the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, as Administrator of the E ...

, 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 enviro ...

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

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

. 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. Scott Milne Matheson Jr. (born Scott Milne Matheson III; July 15, 1953) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He has served on that court since 2010. A native of Salt Lake City, Matheson gra ...

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, 1942) is an American adjunct professor directing the Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is best known for his research in climatology, his 1 ...

, 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, Logan, Park City, Layton, Clearfield, Salt Lake City, and the northern half of the Great Salt Lake. The current member of the United States Hous ...

Parley Hellewell Parley G. Hellewell (born February 1, 1950) was a Republican member of the Utah State Senate from 1999 to 2006. Hellewell was born in Burley, Idaho and raised in Heyburn, Idaho. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Germany and then at ...

, State Senator *

Jon Huntsman, Jr. Jon Meade Huntsman Jr. (born March 26, 1960) is an American businessman, diplomat and politician 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 to ...

, Trade Ambassador for President Bush's administration and former CEO of Huntsman Chemical Corporation *

Nolan Karras Nolan E. Karras (born December 30, 1944 in Ogden, Utah) is an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the Utah House of Representatives from 1981 to 1990. Early life and education Karras earned a Bachelor of Science deg ...

, 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 Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method. It uses a majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referred to as ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the Un ...

Primary

;Candidates * Jon Huntsman Jr., Trade Ambassador for President Bush's administration and former CEO of Huntsman Chemical Corporation *

, 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 and member of the Republican Party who served as a United States senator representing Utah from 1974 to 1993. Garn became the first sitting member of Congress to fly in s ...

and former U.S. President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

. 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 *

(D), U.S. Attorney

Campaign

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

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

, and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

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 p ...

—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 third-largest city, and the largest outside of Salt Lake County. As of the 2020 United States Census, the ...

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 U.S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based education ...

. 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 Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

professor, and dean of the University of Utah law school

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 the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

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 Chr ...

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 A ...

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. The Republican Governors Association is dedicated to one primary objective: ele ...

. 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 governors affiliated with the Democratic Party. The mission of the organization is to provide party ...

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

(largest municipality: Blanding)