2012 Utah gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2012 United States gubernatorial elections.

2012 Utah gubernatorial election

←  2010 (special) November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06) 2016  →

Nominee Gary Herbert Peter Cooke Party Republican Democratic Running mate Greg Bell Vincent Rampton Popular vote 624,678 253,514 Percentage 68.41% 27.58%

County results Congressional district results Herbert:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

Governor before election Gary Herbert Republican Elected Governor Gary Herbert Republican

The 2012 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Republican Governor Gary Herbert won reelection to a full term. ^[1]

Republican nomination

Candidates

• Gary Herbert, incumbent governor ^{[2] [3]}

Defeated at convention

• David Kirkham, businessman and co-founder of the Utah tea party ^[4]
• Morgan Philpot, former state representative and nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 ^[5]
• Lane Ronnow ^[3]
• William Skokos, energy entrepreneur and CEO of Standard American Oil Company ^[3]
• Ken Sumsion, state representative ^{[6] [7]}

^[3]

Declined

• Stephen Sandstrom, state representative ^[8]
• Mark Shurtleff, state attorney general ^[9]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Gary Herbert	David Kirkham	Morgan Philpot	Ken Sumison	Other/ Undecided
Mason-Dixon [10]	April 9–11, 2012	422	± 4.9%	69%	2%	13%	1%	15%

Convention results

Republican convention, 1st round results ^[11]

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			3,907	100.00%

Republican convention, 2nd round results ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gary Herbert	2,464	63.26%
	Republican	Morgan Philpot	1,431	36.74%
Total votes			3,895	100.00%

Democratic nomination

Candidate

• Peter Cooke, businessman and retired major general in the United States Army Reserve ^[2]

Declined

• Jim Matheson, U.S. representative ^{[12] [13]}

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 ^[14]

• Kirk D Pearson (Constitution) ^[15]

• Running mate: Tim Aalders

• Ken Larsen (Libertarian), medical researcher ^[16]

• Running mate: Robert Latham, attorney ^[17]

Debates

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

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report [18]	Solid R	November 1, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball [19]	Safe R	November 5, 2012
Rothenberg Political Report [20]	Safe R	November 2, 2012
Real Clear Politics [21]	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 [22]	October 26–November 1, 2012	870	± 43.4%	69%	24%	5%
Key Research [23]	October 9–13, 2012	500	± 4.4%	65%	19%	15%
Utah State University [24]	October 8–13, 2012	n/a	± 7.6%	76%	17%	7%
Mason-Dixon [10]	April 9–11, 2012	625	± 4%	65%	27%	8%

Results

2012 Utah gubernatorial election ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Gary Herbert (incumbent)	688,592	68.41%	+4.35%
	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%
	Write-in	Dennis C. Owen	2	0.00%
	Write-in	David J. Cannon	1	0.00%
Total votes			1,006,524	100.00%
Majority			410,970	40.83%
	Republican hold		Swing	8.67%

Results by county

County [25]	Gary Herbert Republican		Peter Cooke Demcoratic		Ken Larsen Libertarian		Kirk D. Pearson Constitution		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Beaver	2,040	80.89%	390	15.46%	39	1.55%	53	2.10%	1,650	65.42%	2,522
Box Elder	15,802	82.02%	2,767	14.36%	307	1.59%	389	2.02%	13,035	67.66%	19,265
Cache	32,173	77.11%	7,595	18.20%	984	2.36%	969	2.32%	24,578	58.91%	41,721
Carbon	4,787	63.44%	2,494	33.05%	151	2.00%	114	1.51%	2,293	30.39%	7,546
Daggett	390	76.62%	96	18.86%	15	2.95%	8	1.57%	294	57.76%	509
Davis	89,002	74.21%	26,794	22.34%	2,232	1.86%	1,909	1.59%	62,208	51.87%	119,939 [a]
Duchesne	5,388	85.27%	688	10.89%	84	1.33%	159	2.52%	4,700	74.38%	6,319
Emery	3,532	79.62%	728	16.41%	105	2.37%	71	1.60%	2,804	63.21%	4,436
Garfield	1,753	81.61%	333	15.50%	27	1.26%	35	1.63%	1,420	66.11%	2,148
Grand	1,968	50.96%	1,689	43.73%	149	3.86%	56	1.45%	279	7.22%	3,862
Iron	13,094	79.34%	2,464	14.93%	443	2.68%	503	3.05%	10,630	64.41%	16,504
Juab	3,182	80.82%	588	14.94%	78	1.98%	89	2.26%	2,594	65.89%	3,937
Kane	2,455	74.24%	708	21.41%	78	2.36%	66	2.00%	1,747	52.83%	3,307
Millard	4,049	80.69%	704	14.03%	88	1.75%	177	3.53%	3,345	66.66%	5,018
Morgan	3,697	81.15%	699	15.34%	57	1.25%	103	2.26%	2,998	65.80%	4,556
Piute	658	86.01%	82	10.72%	14	1.83%	11	1.44%	576	75.29%	765
Rich	841	85.21%	122	12.36%	12	1.22%	12	1.22%	719	72.85%	987
Salt Lake	209,310	55.36%	154,361	40.82%	9,472	2.51%	4,963	1.31%	54,949	14.53%	378,107 [b]
San Juan	3,095	59.01%	1,941	37.01%	105	2.00%	104	1.98%	1,154	22.00%	5,245
Sanpete	7,676	80.91%	1,384	14.59%	152	1.60%	275	2.90%	6,292	66.32%	9,487
Sevier	6,632	82.86%	1,044	13.04%	147	1.84%	181	2.26%	5,588	69.82%	8,004
Summit	8,541	49.67%	8,045	46.79%	438	2.55%	171	0.99%	496	2.88%	17,195
Tooele	13,072	68.53%	4,969	26.05%	430	2.25%	605	3.17%	8,103	42.48%	19,076
Uintah	9,950	86.77%	1,103	9.62%	187	1.63%	227	1.98%	8,847	77.15%	11,467
Utah	144,942	82.77%	22,630	12.92%	3,739	2.14%	3,812	2.18%	122,312	69.84%	175,123
Wasatch	6,824	71.79%	2,344	24.66%	184	1.94%	153	1.61%	4,480	47.13%	9,505
Washington	41,915	78.44%	9,244	17.30%	1,156	2.16%	1,120	2.10%	32,671	61.14%	53,435
Wayne	1,050	79.67%	239	18.13%	14	1.06%	15	1.14%	811	61.53%	1,318
Weber	50,774	67.50%	21,377	28.42%	1,724	2.29%	1,346	1.79%	29,397	39.08%	75,221
Total	688,592	68.41%	277,622	27.58%	22,611	2.25%	17,696	1.76%	410,970	40.83%	1,006,524

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Summit (largest municipality: Park City)

Results by congressional district

Herbert won all four congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat. ^[26]

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

Notes

1. Includes 2 write-in votes for Dennis C. Owen
2. Includes 1 write-in vote for David J. Cannon

References

1. "Gov. Herbert wins first full term in office | Local News | heraldextra.com". www.heraldextra.com. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
2. Gehrke, Robert (December 19, 2011). "Retired general poised to take on Herbert in gubernatorial race". The Salt Lake Tribune . Retrieved December 20, 2011.
3. Gehrke, Robert; Canham, Matt (April 21, 2012). "Herbert wins nod, Philpot feels betrayed". The Salt Lake Tribune . Retrieved May 10, 2012.
4. Meyers, Donald W. (January 18, 2012). "Utah tea party founder Kirkham takes on Herbert". The Salt Lake Tribune . Retrieved January 19, 2012.
5. Hesterman, Billy (November 30, 2011). "Philpot to challenge Herbert in 2012". Daily Herald . Archived from the original on January 3, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
6. Davidson, Lee (November 11, 2011). "Utah governor faces challenge from inside the GOP". The Salt Lake Tribune . Retrieved May 10, 2012.
7. Roche, Lisa Riley (November 10, 2011). "GOP lawmaker to run against Gov. Herbert". Deseret News . Retrieved May 10, 2012.
8. Romboy, Dennis (November 14, 2011). "Sandstrom announces bid for Utah's new congressional district seat". Deseret News . Archived from the original on November 15, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
9. Roche, Lisa Riley (June 9, 2011). "Two Utah political heavyweights eyeing key races". Deseret News . Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
10. Mason-Dixon
11. "Election Results: Utah Governor's Race". Utah Republican Party . April 21, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
12. Isenstadt, Alex (December 15, 2011). "Matheson to run for reelection". Politico . Retrieved May 10, 2012.
13. Toeplitz, Shira (December 15, 2011). "Matheson to Run in New Utah District". Roll Call . Retrieved May 10, 2012.
14. Gehrke, Robert (April 19, 2012). "Rampton named as Peter Cooke's running mate". The Salt Lake Tribune . Retrieved May 10, 2012.
15. "2012 Candidate Filings - Lieutenant Governor's Office: Elections". Elections.utah.gov. April 26, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
16. Ken Larsen Free Speech Message. "Ken Larsen". Vote Utah. Archived from the original on November 13, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
17. "Why Choose Rob? « J. Robert Latham | Attorney at Law". Jrobertlatham.pro. January 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
18. "2012 Governor Race Ratings for November 1, 2012". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
19. "PROJECTION: OBAMA WILL LIKELY WIN SECOND TERM". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Archived from the original on December 1, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
20. "2012 Gubernatorial Ratings". Gubernatorial Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
21. "2012 Elections Map - 2012 Governor Races". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
22. Deseret News/KSL
23. Key Research
24. Utah State University
25. "2012 General Election Canvass" . Retrieved January 1, 2026.
26. "Utah 2012 gov-by-cd".

External links

• Utah Government Services – Elections

Official campaign sites (Archived)

• Peter Cooke for Governor
• Gary Herbert for Governor