Merill Cook (I)
Merrill Cook is back in the gubernatorial hunt this year and, according to the polls, making a better showing than in 1988.
Cook ran for office in 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1988. He's also led ballot initiatives in 1988 and 1990. So far, he hasn't been successful. But his campaign this year has been more lively, and he's taken on issues - like advocating a state health-care fund - that seem to appeal to a broader group of people. As in previous races, Cook is basically bankrolling this campaign himself.
Cook, 46, wants to consolidate Utah's 40 school districts into 12, saving, he says, millions of dollars that can then go to smaller class size and higher teacher pay. He wants a new law that will mandate the percentage of state funds that go to teachers and classrooms, "ending this trickle-down education bureaucracy that eats up too much money."
He wants to reform the tax code, eliminating a number of sales-tax exemptions and - over several years - remove the sales tax from grocery food, an initiative petition Cook backed and lost in 1990.
But the major proposal Cook brings to the campaign is a plan to "provide basic health care to all Utahns" via a state health fund. Cook proposes to start revamping health-care access by allowing small businesses to voluntarily pay into the current Workers Compensation Fund. Employers would pay 5 percent and employees pay 3 percent of wages into the fund, which in turn would cover health-care costs. Cook says if successful, and he believes it will be, the fund could evolve into a "pay-or-play" system similar to Hawaii's.
Cook and his Independent Party of Utah picked former GOP Utah House Rep. Frances Hatch Merrill as his running mate. Merrill, younger sister of Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, served as Salt Lake County GOP chairwoman several years ago but jumped from the party to join Cook's effort this year.
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Stewart Hanson (D)
Stewart Hanson is an attorney and former judge who was always high on Democratic leaders' lists of potential candidates. But he passed up half a dozen races - until this year. Hanson, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, was born and raised in Salt Lake City, attending Westminster College and the University of Utah law school. He worked in private practice until appointed as the youngest district judge in the state's history in the early 1970s. He left the bench after several years, saying the pay was too low, and crusaded for higher pay to improve the judicial system.
Hanson, 53, may be the longest-running candidate in this election. He started last summer, traveling to all 29 counties and most of the cities in the state.
In his campaign, Hanson has stressed the process by which he'll govern - open, seeking a wide range of opinions and alternatives, reaching consensus where possible before deciding on a plan of action.
Of the three main gubernatorial candidates, only Hanson won't rule out a tax increase for education. "When you have to fix a broken car - and our education system is broken, in crisis - you need every tool in the box. Why limit your options? It's not good leadership, it's not being honest with the people."
He wants to completely review and overhaul Utah's tax system, saying it is unfair and places too great a burden on the middle class.
Hanson is the only pro-choice gubernatorial candidate, saying while he's personally opposed to abortion, government has no place in such a "private, personal decision."
Hanson picked Utah Rep. Paula Julander, a nurse, educator, and businesswoman, as his running mate. Julander was elected to the House in 1988, beating Olene Walker. Julander is a native of North Carolina who moved to Utah some years ago, graduating from the University of Utah and teaching at Brigham Young University.
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Mike Leavitt (R)
Mike Leavitt was born and raised in Cedar City, moving to Salt Lake City in the early 1980s when his expanding insurance business obtained clients here.
While this is Leavitt's first run at office, he's no newcomer to politics. During the 1980s, Leavitt started a side business of managing major Republican candidates' re-election campaigns.
His business and political connections, as well as his stands on issues, led Leavitt to receive endorsements from most major groups this year except labor unions. (The Utah Education Association did endorse him). He's led in opinion polls since early summer and has raised and spent more money ($1.4 million) than his two major challengers combined.
Leavitt picked former Utah Rep. Olene Walker as his running mate. Walker served in the House from 1981 to 1989 and served as Gov. Norm Bangerter's director of community affairs before resigning earlier this year to run for Congress. She dropped out of the congressional race to run for lieutenant governor.
Leavitt, 42, says Utah is poised to make a breakthrough, both in high-paying jobs and education. Leavitt serves on the Board of Regents - the body that oversees the state's colleges and universities - and also served on the commission that wrote the state's Strategic Plan for Education, a blueprint for reforming public schools.
The strategic plan, says Leavitt, will be his vehicle to "radically reform" the state's schools. "If you don't want reform and change, especially in education, I'm not your candidate," he says.
Leavitt says he'll bring all health-care parties together to craft a "Utah solution" to health-care concerns. First on that agenda is requiring insurance companies to allow workers to carry their coverage from one job to another. He'll set up a health-care commission to work up a Utah solution his first year in office.
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Gary R. Van Horn (Am)
Gary Van Horn, 57, is the American Party candidate for governor. He is an electronics aerospace engineer from South Jordan.
Van Horn wants to "return government to its proper role, protecting us in the enjoyment of our lives, liberty and property." He said that's the role of government, not to distribute someone else's wealth.
"Money is property. It's something you own. It isn't right for the government to take it . . . that's stealing," he said, calling for the privatization of education, welfare and other government functions.
"Government just needs to stand out of the way. We've got smart people in Utah. They don't need someone holding their hand," Van Horn said.
His running mate is Arly Hess Pedersen, West Jordan, the owner of a foundry business.
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Frank W. Richins (IAP)
Frank W. Richins, 61, is the first gubernatorial candidate from the Independent American Party. He is the brother of long-time conservative activist Joy Beech, who founded the party earlier this year.
He said the party stands for return to the ideals of the U.S. Constitution and the "universal laws of virtue, chastity, responsibilty, truthfulness and other moral values."
Richins, a salesman from Holladay, said the Constitution has been destroyed in many areas, including economic liberty. He said the nation needs leaders "who love the Constitution" and who will stop what he describes as a shift from capitalism to socialism because government does a terrible job of redistributing wealth.
There is no Independent American Party candidate for lieutenant governor.
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Rita Gum (Pop)
Rita Gum, the Populist Party candidate for governor, calls herself "a patriot not a politician."
She is a former teacher and the owner of a business that helps Utahns deal with their legal problems without hiring lawyers.
"I love the Constitution - it's the reason I'm running. I'm a mother and a grandmother, and I'm really worried about the next decade," Gum said.
Calling herself a constitutionalist, Gum said Americans need to rededicate themselves to constitutional principles.
"My party represents the people. We have to get rid of big government," she said. "Government has completely taken control of our lives."
She is joined on the Populist Party ticket by C. Samuel West, an Orem natur-opath.
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Eleanor Garcia
Eleanor Garcia, the Socialist Workers Party candidate for governor, said her political experience includes not just running for offices in Utah, Arizona and Minnesota but also demonstrating for causes.
"That's what I consider real politics," she said of her efforts on behalf of the United Farm Workers, abortion rights activists and others. "That's the sort of thing that makes change, not voting."
Garcia, 40, is a laborer from Salt Lake City. She said the Socialist Workers Party wants to shorten the work week from 40 to 30 hours without cutting pay, end sex and race discrimination and erase Third World debt.
William Arth, a Salt Lake machine operator, is running for lieutenant governor from the Socialist Workers Party.
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Linda Metzger-Agin (ind.)
Linda Metzger-Agin, a 42-year-old laundry worker employed by the state, is running for governor as an independent candidate. Her husband, Gene, is her running mate.
The Pleasant Grove couple believe in "freedom for the people. Period," according to Gene. They promise to include the public in the state's decisions through town meetings, held every day if necessary.
"We'll all pull together as a team," Gene said. "Like a good woman who takes care of her family, (government) will be put on a budget."
They would also continue to live in their mobile home if elected instead of moving to the Governor's Mansion and would take just half the governor's salary and none of the lieutenant governor's. "You get her at half-price and me free," he said.