# 2016 Utah gubernatorial election

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The 2016 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016, 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. 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 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. 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.
Incumbent governor Gary Herbert won the June 28, 2016 primary, defeating Overstock.com Chairman Jonathan Johnson.

### Candidates
#### Declared

* Gary Herbert, incumbent governor
* Jonathan "JJ" Johnson, businessman and chairman of the board of Overstock.com

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Gary Herbert | Jonathan Johnson | Undecided |
| SurveyUSA | June 6–8, 2016 | 517 | ± 4.1% | 69% | 24% | 6% |

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Gary Herbert (incumbent) | 176,866 | 71.75% |
| | Republican | Jonathan Johnson | 69,663 | 28.25% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 246,529 | 100.00% |

## 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

#### Withdrew

* Vaughn R Cook, founder and CEO of ZYTO Technologies

#### Declined

* Ed Allen, former state senator
* Jim Dabakis, State Senator and former chairman of the Utah Democratic Party
* Jim Matheson, former U.S. representative
* Ben McAdams, Mayor of Salt Lake County and former state senator

## General election
### Debate

2016 Utah gubernatorial election debate :
| No. | Date | Host | Moderator | Link | Republican | Democratic |
| Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | | |
| Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Gary Herbert | Doug Owens |
| 1 | Sep. 26, 2016 | Utah Debate Commission | Kerry Bringhurst | | P | P |

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| The Cook Political Report | Safe R | August 12, 2016 |
| Daily Kos | Safe R | November 8, 2016 |
| Rothenberg Political Report | Safe R | November 3, 2016 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R | November 7, 2016 |
| Real Clear Politics | Safe R | November 1, 2016 |
| Governing | Safe R | October 27, 2016 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Gary Herbert (R) | Mike Weinholtz (D) | Other | Undecided |
| SurveyMonkey | November 1–7, 2016 | 1,479 | ± 4.6% | 58% | 38% | — | 4% |
| SurveyMonkey | Oct 31–Nov 6, 2016 | 1,428 | ± 4.6% | 59% | 38% | — | 3% |
| Y2 Analytics→ | November 1–3, 2016 | 500 | ± 4.4% | 64% | 26% | 5% | 5% |
| SurveyMonkey | Oct 28–Nov 3, 2016 | 1,327 | ± 4.6% | 60% | 37% | — | 3% |
| Monmouth University | Oct 30–Nov 2, 2016 | 402 | ± 4.9% | 63% | 30% | 5% | 2% |
| SurveyMonkey | Oct 27–Nov 2, 2016 | 1,247 | ± 4.6% | 60% | 36% | — | 4% |
| SurveyMonkey | Oct 26–Nov 1, 2016 | 1,057 | ± 4.6% | 61% | 34% | — | 5% |
| SurveyMonkey | October 25–31, 2016 | 1,078 | ± 4.6% | 61% | 35% | — | 4% |
| UtahPolicy/Dan Jones | October 12–18, 2016 | 818 | ± 3.4% | 64% | 25% | 6% | 5% |
| Monmouth University | October 10–12, 2016 | 403 | ± 4.9% | 63% | 30% | 2% | 5% |
| UtahPolicy/Dan Jones | September 1–9, 2016 | 605 | ± 4.0% | 62% | 24% | 6% | 7% |
| Public Policy Polling | August 19–21, 2016 | 1,018 | ± 3.1% | 57% | 21% | 7% | 14% |
| SurveyUSA | June 6–8, 2016 | 1,238 | ± 2.8% | 55% | 34% | 4% | 6% |
| Gravis Marketing | May 31–June 1, 2016 | 1,519 | ± 2.5% | 56% | 29% | 15% | — |
* → Internal poll conducted on behalf of the Utah Republican Party.
with Jonathan Johnson
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Jonathan Johnson (R) | Mike Weinholtz (D) | Other | Undecided |
| SurveyUSA | June 6–8, 2016 | 1,238 | ± 2.8% | 38% | 35% | 9% | 17% |
| Gravis Marketing | May 31–June 1, 2016 | 1,519 | ± 2.5% | 40% | 29% | 31% | — |
with Jim Matheson
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Gary Herbert (R) | Jim Matheson (D) | Other | Undecided |
| UtahPolicy/Dan Jones | March 30–April 7, 2015 | 601 | ± 4.0% | 57% | 33% | — | 11% |

### Results

2016 Utah gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Gary Herbert (incumbent) | 750,850 | 66.74% | −1.67% |
| | Democratic | Mike Weinholtz | 323,349 | 28.74% | +1.16% |
| | Libertarian | Brian Kamerath | 34,827 | 3.10% | +0.85% |
| | Independent American | Superdell Schanze | 15,912 | 1.41% | N/A |
| | Independent | L.S. Brown (write-in) | 97 | 0.01% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,125,035 | 100.0% | N/A |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Summit (largest municipality: Park City)

#### By congressional district

Herbert won all 4 congressional districts.
| District | Herbert | Weinholtz | Representative |
| 1st | 71% | 24% | Rob Bishop |
| 2nd | 62% | 33% | Chris Stewart |
| 3rd | 72% | 24% | Jason Chaffetz |
| 4th | 61% | 34% | Mia Love |