1976 Utah gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1976 United States gubernatorial elections.

1976 Utah gubernatorial election

←  1972 November 2, 1976 1980  →

Nominee Scott M. Matheson Vernon B. Romney Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 280,706 248,027 Percentage 52.02% 45.96%

County results Matheson:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Romney:      40–50%     50–60%

Governor before election Cal Rampton Democratic Elected Governor Scott M. Matheson Democratic

The 1976 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1976. Democratic candidate Scott M. Matheson defeated Republican nominee Vernon B. Romney, who had defeated Dixie L. Leavitt for his party's nomination, with 52.02% of the vote.

Primary election

Primary elections were held on September 14, 1976.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• John P. Creer, attorney and Democratic nominee for Attorney General in 1968
• Scott M. Matheson, attorney and general counsel for Union Pacific Railroad

Results

Democratic primary results ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Scott M. Matheson	50,505	58.96%
	Democratic	John P. Creer	35,154	41.04%
Total votes			85,659	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Dixie L. Leavitt, member of Utah State Senate
• Vernon B. Romney, Attorney General of Utah

Results

Republican primary results ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Vernon B. Romney	87,251	53.40%
	Republican	Dixie L. Leavitt	76,139	46.60%
Total votes			163,390	100.00%

General election

Candidates

• Scott M. Matheson, Democratic
• Vernon B. Romney, Republican
• L. S. Brown, American Party
• Betty Bates, Concerned Citizens

Results

1976 Utah gubernatorial election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Scott M. Matheson	280,706	52.02%	−17.67%
	Republican	Vernon B. Romney	248,027	45.96%	+15.64%
	American	L. S. Brown	7,201	1.33%
	Concerned Citizens	Betty Bates	3,715	0.69%
Total votes			539,649	100.00%
Majority			32,679	6.06%
	Democratic hold		Swing	-33.31%

Results by county

County [2]	Scott M. Matheson Demcoratic		Vernon B. Romney Republican		L. S. Brown American		Betty Bates Concerned Citizens		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Beaver	1,270	61.83%	760	37.00%	16	0.78%	8	0.39%	510	24.83%	2,054
Box Elder	5,681	42.19%	7,241	53.78%	465	3.45%	78	0.58%	-1,560	-11.59%	13,465
Cache	9,528	41.29%	12,713	55.10%	603	2.61%	230	1.00%	-3,185	-13.80%	23,074
Carbon	6,601	76.41%	1,971	22.82%	40	0.46%	27	0.31%	4,630	53.59%	8,639
Daggett	185	51.82%	164	45.94%	5	1.40%	3	0.84%	21	5.88%	357
Davis	22,420	47.58%	23,618	50.12%	564	1.20%	522	1.11%	-1,198	-2.54%	47,124
Duchesne	1,874	47.28%	1,941	48.97%	124	3.13%	25	0.63%	-67	-1.69%	3,964
Emery	2,180	60.25%	1,348	37.26%	72	1.99%	18	0.50%	832	23.00%	3,618
Garfield	774	43.95%	920	52.24%	56	3.18%	11	0.62%	-146	-8.29%	1,761
Grand	1,653	59.01%	1,100	39.27%	23	0.82%	25	0.89%	553	19.74%	2,801
Iron	3,878	56.95%	2,787	40.93%	117	1.72%	28	0.41%	1,091	16.02%	6,810
Juab	1,285	51.28%	1,172	46.77%	28	1.12%	21	0.84%	113	4.51%	2,506
Kane	663	44.23%	789	52.64%	41	2.74%	6	0.40%	-126	-8.41%	1,499
Millard	1,746	44.27%	2,046	51.88%	119	3.02%	33	0.84%	-300	-7.61%	3,944
Morgan	1,049	48.30%	1,065	49.03%	45	2.07%	13	0.60%	-16	-0.74%	2,172
Piute	284	42.97%	344	52.04%	33	4.99%	0	0.00%	-60	-9.08%	661
Rich	392	48.51%	407	50.37%	7	0.87%	2	0.25%	-15	-1.86%	808
Salt Lake	134,442	56.48%	100,346	42.16%	1,654	0.69%	1,593	0.67%	34,096	14.32%	238,035
San Juan	1,434	46.24%	1,592	51.34%	63	2.03%	12	0.39%	-158	-5.10%	3,101
Sanpete	2,650	44.81%	3,070	51.91%	163	2.76%	31	0.52%	-420	-7.10%	5,914
Sevier	2,307	41.01%	2,773	49.29%	510	9.07%	36	0.64%	-466	-8.28%	5,626
Summit	1,997	53.81%	1,638	44.14%	57	1.54%	19	0.51%	359	9.67%	3,711
Tooele	5,596	61.09%	3,432	37.47%	61	0.67%	71	0.78%	2,164	23.62%	9,160
Uintah	2,204	38.01%	3,334	57.49%	211	3.64%	50	0.86%	-1,130	-19.49%	5,799
Utah	29,693	41.94%	39,422	55.68%	1,244	1.76%	439	0.62%	-9,729	-13.74%	70,798
Wasatch	1,507	48.12%	1,582	50.51%	27	0.86%	16	0.51%	-75	-2.39%	3,132
Washington	3,335	38.79%	4,972	57.83%	227	2.64%	64	0.74%	-1,637	-19.04%	8,598
Wayne	392	42.06%	430	46.14%	106	11.37%	4	0.43%	-38	-4.08%	932
Weber	33,686	56.53%	25,050	42.04%	520	0.87%	330	0.55%	8,636	14.49%	59,586
Total	280,706	52.02%	248,027	45.96%	7,201	1.33%	3,715	0.69%	32,679	6.06%	539,649

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Box Elder
• Cache
• Davis
• Duchesne
• Garfield
• Kane
• Millard
• Morgan
• Piute
• Rich
• San Juan
• Sanpete
• Sevier
• Utah
• Wasatch
• Washington
• Wayne

References

• Utah portal
• Politics portal

1. Scammon, Richard M.; McGillivray, Alice V., eds. (1977). America Votes 12: A Handbook of Contemporary American Election Statistics. Washington D. C.: Congressional Quarterly. p. 368. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
2. "Abstract of the returns of the general election held in the State of Utah - November 2, 1976" (PDF). Retrieved December 29, 2025.