1988 Utah gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1988 United States gubernatorial elections.

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.

1988 Utah gubernatorial election

← 1984 November 8, 1988 1992 →

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

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

• Norman H. Bangerter, incumbent governor^[3]
• Dean Samuels, teacher^[4]

Withdrawn

• Jon Huntsman Sr., industrialist and former White House Staff Secretary^[5]

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

• Ted Wilson, former Mayor of Salt Lake City
• David E. Hewett, physician^[9]

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][23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Norman H. Bangerter (incumbent)	260,462	40.13%
	Democratic	Ted Wilson	249,321	38.41%
	Independent	Merrill Cook	136,651	21.05%
	Libertarian	Kitty K. Burton	1,661	0.26%
	American	Arly H. Pedersen	1,019	0.16%
Majority			11,141	1.72%
Turnout			649,114	100.00%
	Republican hold		Swing

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."^[24] 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 see a third time and would retire to private life.^[2]