For related races, see 2020 United States gubernatorial elections.
2020 Utah gubernatorial election
← 2016
November 3, 2020
2024 →
Turnout
69.2%
Nominee
Spencer Cox
Christopher Peterson
Party
Republican
Democratic
Running mate
Deidre Henderson
Karina Brown
Popular vote
918,754
442,754
Percentage
63.0%
30.4%
County results
Precinct results
Cox: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Peterson: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Tie: 40–50% 50% No data
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Gary Herbert
Republican
Elected Governor
Spencer Cox
Republican
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v
t
e
The 2020 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the governor of Utah, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Although incumbent Republican Governor Gary Herbert was eligible to run for re-election to a third full term, he initially announced shortly after being re-elected in 2016 that he would not run again, but indicated in January 2019 that he was open to the possibility of running again before ultimately deciding to retire and endorse his lieutenant governor, Spencer Cox.[1][2][3] Utah has not had a Democratic governor since Scott M. Matheson left office in January 1985. This is the second longest active streak of one-party leadership, trailing only South Dakota, which has not had a Democratic governor since Harvey L. Wollman left office in 1979.[4][5]
The winner of the election was the first non-incumbent gubernatorial candidate to be elected since Jon Huntsman Jr. in 2004, who ran in this election before he was eliminated in the primaries. The primaries took place on June 30, 2020. The filing deadline was on June 19, 2020.
Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox won the general election by defeating the Democratic nominee, University of Utah law professor and former CFPB official Christopher Peterson.
This election was the first open-seat gubernatorial election in Utah since 1992.
^Gehrke, Robert (November 8, 2016). "Herbert wins his 3rd election as Utah governor". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
^O'Donoghue, Amy Joi (January 29, 2019). "About face? Utah Gov. Gary Herbert says 'never say never' about possible re-election bid". Deseret News. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
^O'Donoghue, Amy Joi (May 14, 2019). "Here are the reasons Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox says he's running for governor in 2020". Deseret News. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
^Wood, Benjamin (July 19, 2019). "Zachary Moses, a Democratic candidate for governor, wants to break up Republican control of Utah and build a space port". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
^Scott, Dylan (November 7, 2018). "Kristi Noem elected first woman governor of South Dakota". Vox. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
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