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
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
Polling
- → Internal poll conducted on behalf of the Utah Republican Party.
Results by county
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Summit (largest municipality: Park City)
Results by congressional district
Herbert won all four congressional districts.