# 2012 Utah gubernatorial election

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The 2012 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2012. It was won by Republican incumbent Governor Gary Herbert.

## Republican nomination
### Candidates

* Gary Herbert, incumbent governor

#### Defeated at convention

* David Kirkham, businessman and co-founder of the Utah tea party
* Morgan Philpot, former state representative and nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010
* Lane Ronnow
* William Skokos, energy entrepreneur and CEO of Standard American Oil Company
* Ken Sumsion, state representative

#### Declined

* Stephen Sandstrom, state representative
* Mark Shurtleff, state attorney general

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Gary Herbert | David Kirkham | Morgan Philpot | Ken Sumison | Other/ Undecided |
| Mason-Dixon | April 9–11, 2012 | 422 | ± 4.9% | 69% | 2% | 13% | 1% | 15% |

### Convention results

Republican convention, 1st round results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Gary Herbert | 2,253 | 57.67 |
| | Republican | Morgan Philpot | 905 | 23.16 |
| | Republican | David Kirkham | 358 | 9.16 |
| | Republican | Ken Sumsion | 254 | 6.50 |
| | Republican | William Skokos | 128 | 3.28 |
| | Republican | Lane Ronnow | 9 | 0.23 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 3,907 | 100 |
Republican convention, 2nd round results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Gary Herbert | 2,464 | 63.26 |
| | Republican | Morgan Philpot | 1,431 | 36.74 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 3,895 | 100 |

## Democratic nomination
### Candidate

* Peter Cooke, businessman and retired major general in the United States Army Reserve

#### Declined

* Jim Matheson, U.S. representative

## General election
### Candidates

* Gary Herbert (Republican), incumbent governor
   * Running mate: Greg Bell, incumbent lieutenant governor
* Peter Cooke (Democratic), businessman and retired major general in the United States Army Reserve
   * Running mate: Vincent Rampton, attorney and son of former Governor Cal Rampton
* Kirk D Pearson (Constitution)
   * Running mate: Tim Aalders
* Ken Larsen (Libertarian), medical researcher
   * Running mate: Robert Latham, attorney

### Debates

* Complete video of debate, October 11, 2012 - C-SPAN

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| The Cook Political Report | Solid R | November 1, 2012 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R | November 5, 2012 |
| Rothenberg Political Report | Safe R | November 2, 2012 |
| Real Clear Politics | Safe R | November 5, 2012 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Gary Herbert (R) | Peter Cooke (D) | Other/ Undecided |
| Deseret News/KSL | October 26–November 1, 2012 | 870 | ± 43.4% | 69% | 24% | 5% |
| Key Research | October 9–13, 2012 | 500 | ± 4.4% | 65% | 19% | 15% |
| Utah State University | October 8–13, 2012 | n/a | ± 7.6% | 76% | 17% | 7% |
| Mason-Dixon | April 9–11, 2012 | 625 | ± 4% | 65% | 27% | 8% |

### Results

2012 Utah gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Gary Herbert (incumbent) | 688,592 | 68.41% | +4.34% |
| | Democratic | Peter Cooke | 277,622 | 27.58% | −4.32% |
| | Libertarian | Ken Larsen | 22,611 | 2.25% | +0.25% |
| | Constitution | Kirk D. Pearson | 17,696 | 1.76% | N/A |
| | n/a | Write-ins | 3 | 0.00% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | '1,006,524' | '100.0%' | N/A |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Summit (largest municipality: Park City)

#### By congressional district

Herbert won all 4 congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat.
| District | Herbert | Cooke | Representative |
| 1st | 72.67% | 23.35% | Rob Bishop |
| 2nd | 63.67% | 32.21% | Chris Stewart |
| 3rd | 73.79% | 22.32% | Jason Chaffetz |
| 4th | 63.21% | 32.75% | Jim Matheson |