Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. wants another run at the job he left to become a diplomat in President Barack Obama’s administration, after launching a presidential bid in an attempt to unseat his former boss.
Huntsman, 59, son of billionaire inventor and philanthropist Jon Huntsman, won the Utah governorship in 2004, after serving as a trade official in President George W. Bush’s administration. Huntsman was governor for about 4 1/2 years before Obama tapped him as ambassador to China.
Huntsman resigned his post in Beijing to run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination — and the right to challenge Obama that fall. He fared poorly in the early primaries and dropped out of the race. He later rejoined the diplomatic corp as President Trump’s ambassador to Russia, a post he held for two years, until early October.
On Thursday, Huntsman explained his rationale for a return bid to the Utah governorship, a position that will open in the 2020 elections.
“Most normal people wouldn’t do something like this because you take a lot of slings and arrows. You dedicate your life and your heart and your soul to it, but that’s what public service is all about,” Huntsman told reporters. “So for us it’s not about politics. It’s about continuing service to a community we love, a community which has defined my family for generations, where we respect all sides, we bring people together in pursuit of commonsense solutions, where leadership is obviously a key ingredient. And we’re here to see whether we can provide a little bit of that if we’re lucky enough to win.”
Announcement run for 2020 Utah Governor. #Huntsman2020 pic.twitter.com/7w0YZNI6Rz
— Jon Huntsman (@HuntsmanGov2020) November 14, 2019
His interview with the press coincided with the release of a campaign announcement video and speeches at Southern Utah University on Thursday and Dixie State University on Friday.
Huntsman’s candidacy sets up a competitive primary race between him and Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox as the two front-runners in the crowded Republican field hoping to replace incumbent Gov. Gary Herbert. Herbert, Huntsman’s successor who is not running for reelection, has already endorsed his second-in-command, Cox.
