• Gayle McKeachnie: The name of another veteran lawmaker — though one long away from Capitol Hill in that capacity — was mentioned by sources to KSL-TV Tuesday night. Gayle McKeachnie served four terms in the House from 1979-1987 — many of those years with Walker. A Vernal attorney, he has more recently been a member of the state's Constitutional Revision Commission and the Appellate Courts Nominating Commission.

A good choice, sources say, would be a current top Leavitt executive appointee, who would likely be out of a job in a year anyway when a new administration takes over, or someone who could take a leave from his current job or is retired from his original career.

• Rich McKeown: One who fits that bill, insiders say, is McKeown, Leavitt's chief of staff. A Democrat-turned-Republican who is well-liked and respected on Capitol Hill, he has run the ship of state, sources say, while Leavitt has been distracted by his nomination to head the EPA.

"All right!" McKeown shouted when asked about the rumor. "Perpetuate that all you want."

When asked specifically if the rumor had merit, McKeown said, "I will not give credence to any rumors of any kind. I will say nothing."

McKeown is also rumored to be leaving his job to accompany Leavitt to Washington, D.C. "I won't say anything about that," he said.

One leading Republican said, however, that it will not be McKeown, a Salt Lake City mayoral candidate in 1995 who switched parties in 2000. Should something happen to Walker over the next year, the GOP establishment would be outraged that a person who just recently joined the Republican Party could rise to the governorship, this leader said.

• Charlie Johnson: Johnson is another who fits the insider description and who has been mentioned on Capitol Hill. Johnson, Leavitt's former chief of staff, now serves as president of the Huntsman Foundation.

"I assure you I am not (the next lieutenant governor)," said Johnson, who said he has received calls from people asserting they know for a fact he has been tapped.

"I can answer that one straight up. No," he said. "I know that for a fact."

• Val Oveson: One logical choice who says he will not be the lieutenant governor is Oveson, the state's current chief information officer, who served eight years as former Gov. Norm Bangerter's lieutenant governor.

Oveson, whose Capitol office is two doors away from Walker's, said Tuesday that Walker had not asked him to be her second-in-command, and he wouldn't do it even if she asked him.

"I've been there, done that," he said.

• Carlene Walker: For the same reasons Allen is considered a top choice for the state's No. 2 job, Sen. Walker, R-Sandy, is also being mentioned. Walker, who was elected in 2000, has already distinguished herself in the otherwise patriarchal Senate, much as Olene Walker did in the House in the 1980s.

Carlene Walker, however, denied she was the next lieutenant governor, "although 'Walker-Walker' has a nice ring to it," she said.

That way the state could save money, she noted, because the surname on Olene Walker's lieutenant governor's door would not have to be repainted.

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E-mail: spang@desnews.com; bbjr@desnews.com