Utah's Top-10 Political Stories of 2009

2009 was a year of significant changes in Utah’s political scene.  Governor Jon Huntsman accepted an appointment from the Obama administration to become Ambassador to China.  Gary Herbert assumed the governorship.  Utah liberalized liquor laws and did away with the “private club” rule.  The state cut the budget in response to a looming budget deficit, and the LDS Church endorsed Sat Lake City’s anti-discrimination ordinance that offered legal protections to gays and lesbians. 

We asked our political insiders to rank the top-10 stories of the year, and the results were all over the map. 

Republicans said the #1 story was Governor Huntsman leaving to become ambassador to China (Democrats rated that story #3), while Democrats thought the LDS Church’s support for Salt Lake’s anti-discrimination ordinance was tops (Republicans said this story came in third). 

See the full results after the jump.