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

{| class="wikitable" |- valign= bottom ! style="width:160px;"| Poll source ! style="width:160px;"| Date(s)administered ! class=small | Samplesize ! Margin oferror ! style="width:100px;"| GaryHerbert ! style="width:100px;"| JonathanJohnson ! Undecided |- |SurveyUSASurveyUSA | 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 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 Date Host Moderator Link Republican DemocraticKey: Participant  Absent  Not invited  Invited Withdrawn Gary Herbert Mike Weinholtz1 Sep. 26, 2016 Utah Debate Commission Kerry BringhurstC-SPAN

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

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror GaryHerbert (R) MikeWeinholtz (D) Other UndecidedSurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey November 1–7, 2016 1,479 ± 4.6% 58% 38% — 4%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey Oct 31–Nov 6, 2016 1,428 ± 4.6% 59% 38% — 3%Y2 AnalyticsY2 Analytics→ November 1–3, 2016 500 ± 4.4% 64% 26% 5% 5%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey Oct 28–Nov 3, 2016 1,327 ± 4.6% 60% 37% — 3%Monmouth UniversityMonmouth University Oct 30–Nov 2, 2016 402 ± 4.9% 63% 30% 5% 2%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey Oct 27–Nov 2, 2016 1,247 ± 4.6% 60% 36% — 4%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey Oct 26–Nov 1, 2016 1,057 ± 4.6% 61% 34% — 5%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 25–31, 2016 1,078 ± 4.6% 61% 35% — 4%UtahPolicy/Dan JonesUtahPolicy/Dan Jones October 12–18, 2016 818 ± 3.4% 64% 25% 6% 5%Monmouth UniversityMonmouth University October 10–12, 2016 403 ± 4.9% 63% 30% 2% 5%UtahPolicy/Dan JonesUtahPolicy/Dan Jones September 1–9, 2016 605 ± 4.0% 62% 24% 6% 7%Public Policy PollingPublic 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 MarketingGravis 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 Samplesize Margin oferror JonathanJohnson (R) MikeWeinholtz (D) Other UndecidedSurveyUSA 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 Samplesize Margin oferror GaryHerbert (R) JimMatheson (D) Other UndecidedUtahPolicy/Dan JonesUtahPolicy/Dan Jones March 30–April 7, 2015 601 ± 4.0% 57% 33% — 11%

Results

Results by county County Gary HerbertRepublican Mike WeinholtzDemcoratic Brian KamerathLibertarian Superdell SchanzeIndependent American L. S. BrownWrite-in Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # % # %Beaver2,03382.44%32413.14%632.55%461.87%00.00%1,70969.30%2,466Box Elder16,08481.89%2,56413.05%6353.23%3571.82%00.00%13,52068.84%19,640Cache34,55375.37%9,02519.69%1,5813.45%6811.49%70.02%25,52855.68%45,847Carbon5,57470.29%2,03425.65%1802.27%1421.79%00.00%3,54044.64%7,930Daggett35174.36%10422.03%122.54%51.06%00.00%24752.33%472Davis101,40273.17%30,72022.17%4,4983.25%1,9461.40%150.01%70,68251.00%138,581Duchesne5,83784.33%71510.33%2193.16%1512.18%00.00%5,12274.00%6,922Emery3,63885.32%48311.33%611.43%821.92%00.00%3,15573.99%4,264Garfield1,88880.72%37816.16%472.01%261.11%00.00%1,51064.56%2,339Grand2,26649.92%2,06745.54%1563.44%501.10%00.00%1994.38%4,539Iron13,64678.13%2,59714.87%8624.94%3602.06%10.01%11,04963.26%17,466Juab3,48384.21%48711.77%1102.66%561.35%00.00%2,99672.44%4,136Kane2,58974.63%72921.01%932.68%581.67%00.00%1,86053.62%3,469Millard4,45585.46%53410.24%1452.78%741.42%50.10%3,92175.22%5,213Morgan4,30483.22%62912.16%1583.05%811.57%00.00%3,67571.06%5,172Piute63088.11%547.55%182.52%131.82%00.00%57680.56%715Rich94885.10%12210.95%201.80%242.15%00.00%82674.15%1,114Salt Lake218,57052.44%181,46243.53%11,6712.80%5,0941.22%300.01%37,1088.90%416,827San Juan3,18858.59%1,97536.30%1492.74%1292.37%00.00%1,21322.29%5,441Sanpete8,70185.50%1,03310.15%2442.40%1971.94%20.02%7,68875.35%10,177Sevier7,30585.11%90310.52%1882.19%1762.05%110.13%6,40274.59%8,583Summit9,59546.89%10,16249.67%5412.64%1630.80%00.00%-567-2.77%20,461Tooele15,03069.27%5,42525.00%7523.47%4842.23%60.03%9,60544.27%21,697Uintah10,69784.15%1,38810.92%4083.21%2181.71%10.01%9,30973.23%12,712Utah162,17881.19%28,46914.25%6,3683.19%2,7201.36%140.01%133,70966.94%199,749Wasatch8,55270.63%3,12525.81%2912.40%1401.16%00.00%5,42744.82%12,108Washington47,20277.19%10,56517.28%2,2563.69%1,1251.84%30.00%36,63759.91%61,151Wayne1,10878.25%27519.42%191.34%140.99%00.00%83358.83%1,416Weber55,04365.20%25,00129.61%3,0823.65%1,3001.54%20.00%30,04235.58%84,428Total750,85066.74%323,34928.74%34,8273.10%15,9121.41%970.01%427,50138.00%1,125,035

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Summit (largest municipality: Park City)

Results by congressional district Herbert won all four congressional districts. District Herbert Weinholtz Representative 71% 24%Rob Bishop 62% 33%Chris Stewart 72% 24%Jason Chaffetz 61% 34%Mia Love

References

External links Official campaign websites Gary Herbert (R) for Governor Mike Weinholtz (D) for Governor