Who will Gov. Gary Herbert select to replace Lt. Governor Greg Bell? We asked our “Political Insiders” and readers who they think will end up as Utah’s next #2 at the statehouse.
Selected anonymous comments:
“Who ever the Utah GOP has tapped to be the next Governor.”
“No notion. The governor will try for someone competent enough not to embarrass him, but someone that won’t outshine him.”
“Needs to be somebody with a good mind for business and organization, someone who can compromise on details but uphold principles, and someone who represents a moderate to conservative voice. What about State Senator Aaron Osmond? His work on education has been hailed form both sides of the aisle, and he would be able to step in right away and start wokring with the Governor.”
“Would be a good gig for Mia Love. However, all of the consultants determined to make $$$$ off her Congressional bid will talk her out of it.”
“I don’t know who it will be, but almost anyone would be a step down in quality. I’ll be sorry to see Greg leave the office, not least because I had hoped to see him as our next governor.”
“Dan Liljenquist…or anyone who is NOT Becky Lockhart.”
“If he is running again, then Kristen Cox. She has run for Lt. Governor in Maryland and knows how to be a team player, but probably has the ability to step in if needed. She headed Workforce Services and can continue to champion the Governor’s economic record based upon her experience at that agency. She can build an infrastructure to run herself in 2020 given her prior campaign experience. If he is not running again, he should pick Speaker Lockhart. She is going to run in 2016 anyway, and this avoids having his record tarnished by her campaign, since she will have to own his record as she runs in 2016 as his Lt. Governor.”
“Natalie Gochnour would be the best choice, but I think he’ll choose Kristen Cox. That is if he has the cojones to put a strong woman in that office. I’m not sure he does.”
“If he’s smart he’ll pick Dan Liljenquist. Smart, articulate, policy oriented, a team player, and 65% approval rating. If he’s dumb he’ll pick his chief of staff.”
“Hopefully someone decent like Bell and not a sop to the Eagle Forum crowd.”
“Mike Mower would be a great choice. He is well liked, trusted and respected by both the legislature and those that are not. He isn’t known as much as other choices however.”
“Becky Lockhart – neutralize her.”
“Governor Herbert’s dream would be Speaker Becky Lockhart or Mayor Mia Love; they’re both young, conservative leaders who would energize base for his 2016 reelection. But they both would likely turn him down due to their interest in upcoming elections. (Lockhart for guv in ’16, Love for Congress). What seems more likely is either a well established conservative like Dan Liljenquist, but I could also see him going for a more business minded moderate like Natalie Gouchnor or Lane Beattie.”
“I’d like it to be a woman. I think Becky Lockhart is too proud and wants the Governorship to herself, but she’d be a great Lt. Gov.”
“Since it has to be a white Republican, my money is on Jim Matheson.”
“Sen. Valentine. He wants to be governor. Closest he will get.”
“Ally Isom, the current deputy chief of staff for communications in the Governor’s Office, is a strong dark horse candidate, but I think it more likely he chooses Chief of Staff Derek Miller or someone from the senate.”
“Derek Miller. Trust is more meaningful and long lasting than political advantage. When the Governor picked Bell he was a brand new Governor who had not yet been elected in his own right. Now he is seasoned with two elections under his belt. He will be more interested in someone he trusts and less interested in someone who gives him some supposed political advantage.”
Respondents include –
Fred Adams, Stuart Adams, Jess Agraz, Scott Anderson, Laura Arellano, Patrice Arent, Bette Arial, Neil Ashdown, Bruce Baird, Heather Barney, Steve Barth, Jeff Bell, Tom Berggren, Mike Bertelsen, Ron Bigelow, Emily Bingham-Hollingshead, Rob Bishop, Laura Black, Nanci Bockelie, Charles Bradley, Jim Bradley, Ralph Brown, Chris Bleak, Curt Bramble, Joel Briscoe, Ralph Brown, Aaron Browning, Ken Bullock, Ric Cantrell, Maura Carabello, Marty Carpenter, Rebecca Chavez-Houck, Kay Christensen, David Clark, Kim Coleman, Peter Corroon, Tim Cosgrove, Fred Cox, Lew Cramer, Gene Davis, Richard Davis, Brad Daw, Alan Dayton, Margaret Dayton, Mike Deaver, Brad, Dee, Joseph Demma, Jake Dennis, Dan Deuel, Jeff Dixon, Brian Doughty, Carl Downing, Randy Dryer, Susan Duckworth, Donald Dunn, Alan Eastman, Becky Edwards, Scott Ericson, Chase Everton, Jessica Fawson, Janice Fisher, Wendy Fisher, Lorie Fowlke, Ronald Fox, Claire Francis, Ryan Frandsen, Adam Gardiner, Jordan Garn, Ernie Gamonal, Luke Garrott, Dave Gessel, Sheryl Ginsberg, Natalie Gochnour, Robert Grow, Karen Hale, David Hansen, Neil Hansen, Joe Hatch, Jeff Hartley, Dan Hauser, Lynn Hemmingway, Deidre Henderson, Neal Hendrickson, Casey Hill, Lyle Hillyard, Kory Holdaway, Randy Horiuchi, Ben Horsley, Bruce Hough, Scott Howell, Greg Hughes, Miriam Hyde, Allison Isom, Casey Jackson, Eric Jergensen, Mike Jerman, Jonathan Johnson, Michael Jolley, Gordon Jones, Leslie Jones, Pat Jones, Kirk Jowers, Jeremy Keele, Brian King, Scott Konopasek, Steve Kroes, Chris Kyler, Carter Livingston, Fred Lampropoulos, Clark Larsen, Douglas Larson, David Litvack, Larry Lunt, Matt Lyon, Ben McAdams, Daniel McCay, Gayle McKeachnie, JT Martin, Maryann Martindale, Jason Mathis, Bob Mayhew, Karen Mayne, Bret Milburn, Derek Miller, Rob Miller, Ethan Millard, Brett Millburn, Karen Morgan, Jeffery Morton, Mike Mower, Holly Mullen, Wayne Niederhauser, Mike Noel, Randy O’Hara, Ralph Okerlund, James Olsen, Val Oveson, Kelly Patterson, John Pearce, Helen Peters, Karen Peterson, Frank Pignanelli, Becky Pirente, Marie Poulson, Jason Powers, Tami Pyfer, Joe Pyrah, Mike Reberg, Jill Remington Love, Lauren Richards, Holly Richardson, Robin Riggs, James Roberts, Luz Robles, Ross Romero, Carol Sapp, Don Savage, Bryan Schott, Shauna Scott-Bellaccomo, Jay Seegmiller, Jennifer Seelig, Patrick Shea, Randy Shumway, Soren Simonsen, Jeremy Slaughter, Brendan Smith, Brian Somers, Carol Spackman-Moss, Robert Spendlove, Barbara Stallone, Howard Stephenson, David Stringfellow, Mike Styler, Shinika Sykes, Juliette Tennert, Gary Thorup, Kevin Van Tassell, Royce Van Tassel, Doug Thompson, Michael Waddoups, Laura Warburton, Chuck Warren, Christine Watkins, LaVarr Webb, Todd Weiler, Alan West, Mark Wheatley, Larry Wiley, Ted Wilson, Carl Wimmer, Mike Winder, Travis Wood, Thomas Wright, Crystal Young-Otterstrom
Results from the UtahPolicy.com/KSL Insider poll can be heard on KSL Radio every Friday and are published on Utah Policy.com every Monday.
