The first major fund raiser for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. since his inauguration in January is being billed as "barbecue, blue jeans and Baby James" for supporters willing to pay at least $500 to attend the Saturday event.

For that price, they'll get a pair of tickets to the James Taylor concert at the USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City — normally priced at $26 to $91 — along with the barbecue and a chance to mingle with the governor.

"It's a relaxed setting rather than going and getting plastic chicken and putting on a tuxedo," said Max Farbman, the head of the governor's special initiatives office, which raises money for Huntsman's political action committee.

Farbman said he hopes to raise $200,000 to $250,000 with the event, which will be this year's final fund raiser. The governor is trying to retire a campaign debt of about $500,000, he said.

The office purchased 500 tickets for the concert and has sold most of them, Farbman said. Some of the tickets are among the venue's 13,000 spaces on the lawn; others are within the 7,000 reserved seats.

He said the major sponsors of the event are XanGo, a juice company in Lehi; John Price, a major Republican contributor who has been ambassador to the African island nations of Mauritius, Seychelles and the Comoros Republic, and Mike Moffitt of Gold Cross Ambulance

Moffitt, senior vice president of the family-owned ambulance company, said his $25,000 contribution buys two tables at the dinner and 16 tickets to the concert. Moffitt said he's making the gift so Huntsman "can continue to help the state."

The event for the governor is not affiliated with Taylor, a longtime supporter of Democrats including 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry. "All we did was buy a bunch of tickets," Farbman said.

A spokeswoman for Taylor did not respond to requests for comment about his concert being used as a fund raiser. Huntsman said Taylor "is a huge talent who appeals to Republicans and Democrats alike, and his music has the ability to cross all political barriers."

He said questioning why a Republican would turn to a Democrat to help raise money is "like asking Democrats why they attended the Ramones concert when (the late) Johnny Ramone was a huge Republican supporter."

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