1988 Utah gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1988 United States gubernatorial elections.

1988 Utah gubernatorial election
November 8, 1988
 
Nominee Norman H. Bangerter Ted Wilson Merrill Cook
Party Republican Democratic Independent
Popular vote 260,462 249,321 136,651
Percentage 40.13% 38.41% 21.05%
County results
Bangerter:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Wilson:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election

Norman H. Bangerter
Republican

Elected Governor

Norman H. Bangerter
Republican

The 1988 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1988. Republican nominee and incumbent governor Norman H. Bangerter defeated Democratic nominee Ted Wilson and independent Merrill Cook with 40.13% of the vote. As of 2023, this is the closest a Democrat has come to winning the governorship in Utah since Scott M. Matheson left office in 1985.

Background

Governor Bangerter consistently trailed in the polls behind Democrat Ted Wilson until near election day. This was due to his unpopular tax increases that spawned a protest movement against his policies, resulting in three tax ballot measures installed, and independent candidate Merrill Cook championing in support of them.[1] Bangerter justified the increases due to the regional recession in Utah caused by declining energy commodity prices in 1986 to 1987, which caused mining employment to fall by 60%, and construction by 30%. Two major companies, Geneva Steel and Kennecott Copper, had to be closed temporarily. Combined with rapid raising school enrollments, Bangerter was forced to raise taxes to counter the declining state budget.[2] Nevertheless, by election day, polls had shown that Bangerter had closed the near 20–30-point lead Wilson had just three weeks earlier, with previous governor Scott Matheson attributing it to his well received debate performance. In the early morning the day after the election, Bangerter was declared the winner with around 40% of the popular vote.[1]

Republican nomination

Candidates

Declared

Withdrawn

Results

Bangerter defeated Samuels at the state convention on June 11[6] with over 70% of the vote and therefore avoided a primary.[7]

Republican convention, 11 June 1988[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Norm Bangerter (incumbent) 1,502 80.6%
Republican W. Dean Samuels 361 19.4%
Write-in Merrill Cook 1 0.1%
Total votes 1,864

Democratic nomination

Candidates

Declared

Results

Wilson defeated Hewett at the state convention on June 25 with over 70% of the vote and therefore avoided a primary.

Democratic convention, 25 June 1988[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ted Wilson 1,654 97.4%
Democratic David E. Hewett 44 2.6%
Total votes 1,698

American Party nomination

Candidates

Declared

  • Arly H. Pedersen, National chairman[11]
  • Lawrence Ray Topham, perennial candidate

Results

Pedersen defeated Topham at the state convention on June 25[12] with over 70% of the vote and therefore avoided a primary.[13]

American Party convention, 25 June 1988[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
American Arly H. Pedersen 42 77.8%
American Lawrence Rey Topham 12 22.2%
Total votes 54

General election

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size 		Margin of
error 		Norm
Bangerter (R) 		Ted
Wilson (D) 		Merrill
Cook (I) 		Other Undecided
Dan Jones & Associates[15] April 19–21, 1988 904 ± 3.0% 28% 56% 8% 1% 7%
Deseret News/KSL[16] (May 3, 1988) 27% 52% 6% 1%
Dan Jones & Associates[17] (June 27, 1988) 30% 49% 11%
Dan Jones & Associates[18] July 26–28, 1988 905 ± 3.2% 31% 50% 12% 1% 7%
Dan Jones & Associates[19] (September 3, 1988) 31% 50% 12%
Dan Jones & Associates[20] November 6, 1988 36% 36% 24%

Candidates

  • Ted Wilson, Democratic
  • Norm Bangerter, Republican
  • Arly H. Pedersen, American
  • Merrill Cook, Independent
  • Kitty K. Burton, Libertarian

Results

1988 Utah gubernatorial election[21][22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Norman H. Bangerter (incumbent) 260,462 40.13% −15.75%
Democratic Ted Wilson 249,321 38.41% −5.37%
Independent Merrill Cook 136,651 21.05%
Libertarian Kitty K. Burton 1,661 0.26%
American Arly H. Pedersen 1,019 0.16% −0.19%
Total votes 649,114 100.00%
Plurality 11,141 1.72%
Republican hold Swing -10.37%

Results by county

Salt Lake County voted for the losing candidate for the first time ever in a gubernatorial election.[a]

County[21] Norman H. Bangerter
Republican 		Ted Wilson
Demcoratic 		Merrill Cook
Independent 		Kitty K. Burton
Libertarian 		L. S. Brown
American 		Margin[b] Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Beaver 869 41.17% 998 47.28% 240 11.37% 3 0.14% 1 0.05% -129 -6.11% 2,111
Box Elder 7,880 48.97% 5,421 33.69% 2,753 17.11% 18 0.11% 21 0.13% 2,459 15.28% 16,093
Cache 13,916 49.71% 10,326 36.89% 3,610 12.90% 89 0.32% 54 0.19% 3,590 12.82% 27,995
Carbon 1,265 14.76% 6,102 71.20% 1,187 13.85% 13 0.15% 3 0.04% -4,837 -56.44% 8,570
Daggett 171 41.20% 189 45.54% 53 12.77% 2 0.48% 0 0.00% -18 -4.34% 415
Davis 29,729 43.37% 21,407 31.23% 17,144 25.01% 163 0.24% 104 0.15% 8,322 12.14% 68,547
Duchesne 1,471 33.60% 1,597 36.48% 1,296 29.60% 4 0.09% 10 0.23% -126 -2.88% 4,378
Emery 1,397 33.66% 2,185 52.65% 560 13.49% 3 0.07% 5 0.12% -788 -18.99% 4,150
Garfield 1,310 70.70% 362 19.54% 177 9.55% 2 0.11% 2 0.11% 948 51.16% 1,853
Grand 1,049 32.71% 1,507 46.99% 636 19.83% 8 0.25% 7 0.22% -458 -14.28% 3,207
Iron 4,361 56.05% 2,550 32.78% 840 10.80% 5 0.06% 24 0.31% 1,811 23.28% 7,780
Juab 928 36.74% 1,158 45.84% 438 17.34% 0 0.00% 2 0.08% -230 -9.11% 2,526
Kane 1,499 67.37% 491 22.07% 222 9.98% 11 0.49% 2 0.09% 1,008 45.30% 2,225
Millard 2,030 43.61% 1,529 32.85% 1,088 23.37% 3 0.06% 5 0.11% 501 10.76% 4,655
Morgan 1,066 41.64% 818 31.95% 675 26.37% 0 0.00% 1 0.04% 248 9.69% 2,560
Piute 364 53.93% 247 36.59% 63 9.33% 0 0.00% 1 0.15% 117 17.33% 675
Rich 408 47.11% 315 36.37% 140 16.17% 3 0.35% 0 0.00% 93 10.74% 866
Salt Lake 97,642 35.05% 120,102 43.11% 59,562 21.38% 819 0.29% 482 0.17% -22,460 -8.06% 278,607
San Juan 1,658 43.80% 1,752 46.29% 353 9.33% 11 0.29% 11 0.29% -94 -2.48% 3,785
Sanpete 3,000 45.79% 2,384 36.39% 1,141 17.41% 18 0.27% 9 0.14% 616 9.40% 6,552
Sevier 2,831 45.56% 1,910 30.74% 1,439 23.16% 15 0.24% 19 0.31% 921 14.82% 6,214
Summit 2,120 33.15 3,129 48.92% 1,132 17.70% 12 0.19% 3 0.05% -1,009 -15.78% 6,396
Tooele 3,113 32.18% 4,724 48.83% 1,812 18.73% 21 0.22% 5 0.05% -1,611 -16.65% 9,675
Uintah 2,698 37.44% 2,368 32.86% 2,118 29.39% 15 0.21% 8 0.11% 330 4.58% 7,207
Utah 44,329 50.26% 26,129 29.63% 17,407 19.74% 199 0.23% 131 0.15% 18,200 20.64% 88,195
Wasatch 1,624 40.95% 1,654 41.70% 677 17.07% 4 0.10% 7 0.18% -30 -0.76% 3,966
Washington 9,588 57.99% 4,203 25.42% 2,658 16.08% 57 0.34% 27 0.16% 5,385 32.57% 16,533
Wayne 692 61.40% 353 31.32% 80 7.10% 2 0.18% 0 0.00% 339 30.08% 1,127
Weber 21,454 34.46% 23,411 37.61% 17,150 27.55% 161 0.26% 75 0.12% -1,957 -3.14% 62,251
Total 260,462 40.13% 249,321 38.41% 136,651 21.05% 1,661 0.26% 1,019 0.16% 11,141 1.72% 649,114

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Aftermath

Governor Bangerter descended from his hotel room around 3:15 am, the morning after election day, to greet reporters and a small group of 40 "cheerful" supporters in the hotel's banquet room upon receiving a concession call from Ted Wilson. In a speech, Bangerter declared that "This morning we start bringing the state back together on an agenda that will move us into the 1990s."[1]

All three of the tax protest ballot initiatives were defeated, with their biggest supporter, independent candidate Merrill Cook, stating: "I'm conceding the race, but I'm not conceding the fight."[23] Cook would run for governor as an independent again in the 1992 gubernatorial election.

Democrats, who thought Wilson would win easily, were astounded by the stunning upset, and had trouble explaining the loss. Former Democratic governor Scott Matheson was asked why he thought Wilson lost: "That is an intriguing question we will be talking about for years. There are so many factors, the matter of a strong independent candidate, the presence of the tax initiatives which took attention away from the regular races. But we can't dismiss the fact we live in a strong Republican state where it is difficult for Democrats to win and that Ted Wilson was running against an incumbent who had the advantage of using the power of incumbency to make his case to the people."[1]

Bangerter would later announce in November 1990 that he would not seek a third term and would retire to private life.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ This would also subsequently occur in 2000 and 2004.
  2. ^ Cook finished third in every county, so all margins are between Bangerter and Wilson.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Salt Lake Tribune | November 10, 1988 | Page 1". newspapers.lib.utah.edu. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Utah History Encyclopedia". www.uen.org. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  3. ^ "Here's a list of those who've filed to run for public office throughout the State". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, UT. April 16, 1988. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  4. ^ "Midvale educator jumps into race for Governor, vowing to battle taxes". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, UT. April 20, 1988. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  5. ^ Bernick, Bob Jr. (April 13, 1988). "Huntsman bows out of State House race". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  6. ^ Bernick, Bob Jr. (June 10, 1988). "Bangerter tries to win back dissidents". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  7. ^ "Ex-candidate decides against fighting Bangerter nomination". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, UT. July 14, 1988. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  8. ^ Davidson, Lee (June 20, 1988). "Bangerter's convention win challenged. Kearns legislative candidate says write-ins for Cook weren't counted". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  9. ^ Bernick, Bob Jr. (April 17, 1988). "They're off! But Utah's political sprint may resemble walkathon more than a horse race". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  10. ^ Bernick, Bob Jr. (June 26, 1988). "Demos relish 'new unity'. Wilson will lead slate that has rousing support". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  11. ^ World Almanac 1989, p. 332.
  12. ^ Davidson, Lee (June 26, 1988). "American Party's convention fraught with mudslinging. Chairman wins nomination for Governor's race by 78 percent of vote". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  13. ^ Davidson, Lee (June 30, 1988). "American Party nomination assailed". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  14. ^ "UT Governor, 1988 – Amer Convention". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  15. ^ Dan Jones & Associates
  16. ^ Deseret News/KSL
  17. ^ Dan Jones & Associates
  18. ^ Dan Jones & Associates
  19. ^ Dan Jones & Associates
  20. ^ Dan Jones & Associates
  21. ^ a b "Official Results for the State of Utah - 1988" (PDF). Retrieved December 31, 2025.
  22. ^ Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 82.
  23. ^ "Salt Lake Tribune | November 9, 1988 | Page 1". newspapers.lib.utah.edu. Retrieved August 12, 2024.

Bibliography

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