• He'll do considerable political fund raising via a newly created political action committee (PAC). But he won't use his PAC to pay for governor-related items not picked up by the state, such as a new inaugural dress for the First Lady. "I imagine I'll pay for personal items like that myself. I've bought (Mary Kaye) a new dress for Christmas, and it will serve as her inaugural dress, too."

Pending stock sale

How Huntsman will use his family's considerable financial assets is of interest because while Utah's last three governors were millionaires, none had the huge wealth of the Huntsmans.

The governor-elect is the oldest son of Jon Huntsman Sr., one of Utah's few billionaires. Forbes Magazine estimates the elder Huntsman's wealth at $2.5 billion.

The Huntsman family owns controlling interest in the largest privately held chemicals firm in the world. Officials of Huntsman LLC, the holding company, announced last summer that they will take the company public early in 2005, selling stock on the open market for the first time.

The Huntsmans own 51 percent of the company stock. The elder Huntsman and his wife, Karen, hold two-thirds of that, with the nine Huntsman children (the governor-elect being the oldest) splitting the remaining one-third equally.

The governor-elect said this past week that the IPO could happen as early as January, assuming market conditions for the sale are acceptable.

He said he'll place his newly issued, public Huntsman stock in a blind trust. And he'll start selling off that stock "fairly rapidly" to get some cash assets.

While he won't be managing the trust, which could be holding between $25 million and $50 million, he may take periodic draws on the trust as family finances require, he told the newspaper.

Other Huntsman family assets may also be used as needed by the new governor, including his father's huge Deer Valley house (nicknamed the "Huntsman Castle" by some who have visited there) and corporate jet airplanes.

The Deer Valley "lodge," as the son calls it, "is underutilized now, used mainly for board meetings" of Huntsman Chemical. The new governor said he may use the building for special events.

In fact, he said, he's already invited GOP leaders of the Utah House and Senate up to the lodge after Christmas to discuss the upcoming 2005 Legislature and other state needs.

Campaign loans

The lodge may be used for political fund raising, as well, he added.

That may start soon in 2005, as Huntsman says he plans to "retire" $625,000 in campaign loans and bank lines of credit left over from his November 2004 victory "before the end of next year."

That leads to the question: Will Utahns and others be less likely to donate money to Huntsman's PAC, initially named the Governor's Special Initiative Office, knowing the candidate himself could likely write a personal check to retire the campaign debt?