No. 1 priority: fulfilling job as No. 2 in state

Being lieutenant governor is a job that all but guarantees people are going to feel let down when you show up for a public appearance — and that's if they know who you are.

"I had the routine down," said Val Oveson, who served eight years as lieutenant governor under Gov. Norm Bangerter. "You get up and say, 'How would you like to have a job that no matter where you went, people were always disappointed?' "

That's because, of course, it's almost always the governor who's been invited to speak, not his or her No. 2. Oveson, now the state's chief information officer, said he understands. "Having the governor come is such a big deal."

And the lieutenant governor? Well, more than half the Utahns polled just over a year ago, shortly after Lt. Gov. Gayle McKeachnie was named to the post by Gov. Olene Walker, said they had no idea who held the office.

"I had a lady introduce me today to her family as the attorney general. That doesn't bother me," McKeachnie said. "I wasn't after recognition. My job was to make (Walker) look good. I didn't run for the job, she appointed me."

Walker knew the job for 11 years. She had served as lieutenant governor under former Gov. Mike Leavitt until he left midway through his third term to join the Bush administration as head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

When she assumed Leavitt's office, she fulfilled one of the most important duties of lieutenant governor, taking over for a governor who chooses to leave, as in her case, or is forced to step down.

McKeachnie said he was selected by Walker in part because, unlike others who have held the post, he had no intention of running for governor himself. Walker lost her bid to stay in the governor's office at the May state GOP convention.

Huntsman's lieutenant governor, Gary Herbert, seems to know the limits of his new role. "I know No. 2 is No. 2," Herbert said. "No. 1 will make the decision ultimately. That's OK. That's the way it ought to be."

Herbert, a Utah County commissioner since 1990, was also a candidate for governor when Huntsman approached him earlier this year about joining the ticket. "I thought I was as well qualified as anyone," Herbert said. "I still do."

But he stops short of saying he'll run for governor again. "That's been put way on the back burner," Herbert said. "My goal is to have people say Jon Huntsman is the best governor that the state ever had."

Oveson, who toyed with the idea of running for governor at one time, said such loyalty can lead to higher-profile assignments. "That's what you need in order to be ready to run yourself," he said. "I was plenty busy."