Stephens is the winner of governor straw poll

OREM — Nearly 1,600 Republicans braved the winter weather to listen to candidates cast a vote in Utah's first county straw poll this year.

According to the poll findings, gubernatorial candidate Marty Stephens won with 458 votes, nearly 100 more than the nearest competitor Gary Herbert. Jon Huntsman finished third with 248 votes.

In the 3rd Congressional District, Rep. Chris Cannon received 63 percent of the vote. John Swallow won the 2nd Congressional District with 60 percent in a the mock election.

"This gives people a chance to feel (the candidates)," Joe Cannon, chairman of the Utah Republican Party, said at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner.

The evening's festivities let many residents of Utah County see and meet their potential representatives before primary elections take place.

"It's an opportunity for candidates to show who they are," said event chairman Stan Lockhart. "Why not let the people in Utah County see the process."

Some attendees didn't take Saturday evening's straw poll results too seriously because some campaigns bought large numbers of tickets to the event.

Yet organizers said ticket sales from campaigns only amount to nearly 30 percent of the 2,000 tickets sold. The remaining 70 percent came from Utah County Republican supporters, said Mike Mower, who helped organize the event.

"These are the people that are going to keep the party alive," said Rep. Chris Cannon.

Jason Chaffetz, who heads up communication for Jon Huntsman Jr.'s campaign, said "Utah voters want to meet the candidates."

The Huntsman campaign purchased 75 tickets for the event, placing it behind many of the other contenders. Acknowledging differences about how effective a straw poll could be, the campaign released its own findings.

In a statewide poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates and sponsored by the Huntsman for Governor campaign, Huntsman would be the only candidate able to beat Democrat Scott Matheson.

Huntsman would win 47 percent of the vote to Matheson's 37 percent with 16 percent undecided.

The findings also claim that if Matheson ran against Jim Hansen, Fred Lampropolous or Stephens, Matheson would win the election. Dan Jones polled 306 voters statewide, yielding a sampling error of 5.5 percent.

Asked if he would put any weight in the straw poll results, Cannon said before the vote, "If I win heavily, I'll say yes."

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