SALT LAKE CITY — Big money is already being spent in the Utah governor's race, with the first test for candidates coming Saturday at the Republican and Democratic state conventions.
Gov. Gary Herbert has gone through the most money, more than $861,000 since the beginning of the year, but still has nearly $805,000 in cash on hand, his campaign manager, Marty Carpenter, said.
Herbert's opponent for the GOP nomination, Overstock.com Chairman Jonathan Johnson, has expenditures totalling more than $357,000 and less than $11,500 left, according to Johnson's financial disclosure filing.
On the Democratic side, CHG Healthcare Chairman Mike Weinholtz has spent more than $451,000. Thanks to a $1 million loan he made to his campaign, Weinholtz has nearly $568,000 still available, his filing shows.
Weinholtz's challenger for the Democratic nomination, Oriental medicine doctor and Zyto Corp. founder Vaughn Cook, posted more than $15,000 in campaign debt in his filing, but later borrowed $25,000 from his bio-communication company.
The state filings come as the candidates ready for state party nominating conventions Saturday that could determine the general election matchup depending on how much delegate support the candidates have.
In the past, candidates who win 60 percent of the delegate vote advanced directly to the general election ballot, but under a new process in the controversial election law known as SB54, there is another path to a primary election.
Herbert is the only candidate for governor who gathered enough voter signatures under that provision to qualify for a place on the June 28 primary ballot no matter what happens at the convention.
That means even if Johnson gets 60 percent of the delegate vote, he faces a primary runoff. But if Herbert reaches that threshold, he'll become the Republican nominee, just as Weinholtz or Cook would if they do the same at the Democratic convention.
Carpenter said the governor is the only candidate required because of his office to suspend fundraising during the Legislature and the time set aside for acting on bills.
During the reporting period, from Jan. 1 through mid-April, Herbert raised just over $251,000, Carpenter said, and transferred $775,000 into his campaign account from his leadership political action committee, funded through his annual gala fundraiser.
"We're not taking our eye off the ball of what needs to be done," Carpenter said. "We've tried to put ourselves in a good position should it take additional time to secure the nomination."
That will likely include more fundraisers, he said, although probably not on the same scale as the annual gala that usually brings in around $1 million.
"That's how the war chest is built," Carpenter said.
Johnson's campaign manager, Dave Hansen, said Johnson will be able to raise more money quickly. Hansen said Johnson didn't contribute directly to his campaign this year but his friends and family gave nearly $369,000.
That included $150,000 from Patrick Byre, who recently took an indefinite leave of absence as CEO of Overstock.com for medical reasons.
"We'll be fine. We've been able to do what we've planned to do to this point," Hansen said.
Weinholtz, a founder of CHG Healthcare who recently retired as the company's CEO, said he loaned his campaign $1 million to make it clear he's serious about the campaign.
"Because it's a statewide campaign at the top of the ticket, it will require raising a lot of money to be competitive and we'll do that. Whether we raise enough ultimately to pay me back, that remains to be seen," Weinholtz said.
Cook said his campaign's debt in his filing was a timing issue because expenses are going on a credit card. He said he's relying on his own money and funds from Zyto to pay for the campaign.
"I know how we're running this thing. We're not running in the red," said Cook, an acupuncturist. "Obviously, we're trying to keep the costs down, but it's an expensive proposition."
Email: lisa@deseretnews.com
Twitter: DNewsPolitics