Are gubernatorial hopefuls getting too personal?

Utah's governor is one of the highest-profile politicians in the state. And it's natural that citizens and voters want to know something about the personal lives of the people who seek the office.

Question is, how far should candidates go in telling voters about their personal lives?

This past week, Fred Lampropoulos — who has made jokes and puns about his last name in an effort to get Utahns to recognize him — ran a campaign radio advertisement across the state saying he is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The ad was not primarily about that. Lampropoulos, who has run radio monograms since January 2003 on a variety of topics, goes on to talk about the street preachers who stand outside LDS conferences haranguing conferencegoers.

In introducing the ad by saying he is LDS, "it was more along the lines of speaking about the street preachers as one who understands" the insults being thrown at LDS conferencegoers, said Dave Hansen, Lampropoulos' campaign manager.

Hansen said the campaign doesn't need to inform voters and state GOP delegates about Lampropoulos' religion. "However, in general, we do want people to know as much about Fred as they desire to know."

Lampropoulos, who was born in Wyoming but lived in Salt Lake City during his teenage years, converted to the LDS Church as a young man, said Hansen.

It's not the first time that a candidate for major Utah office wanted voters to know they belong to Utah's dominant religion.

In 1978, University of Utah law professor Ed Firmage, a Democrat running for the U.S. House, produced ads saying that he was a direct descendent of Brigham Young, the LDS Church leader who brought the Mormons to Utah. Firmage was criticized for the ads at the time.

In 1992, GOP gubernatorial candidate Richard Eyre, a writer and speaker on family issues, ran a TV and print ad showing him with LDS missionaries he oversaw and an attending church leader, who by 1992 had been called to the church's Quorum of the Twelve. It may have been the first time that any candidate for major office put a living LDS Church leader in a campaign advertisement. The LDS Church, when questioned by the media, reiterated its stand that it endorses no candidates for public office.

Lampropoulos' recent radio ad doesn't claim any LDS Church endorsement.

After saying in the ad that he's a member of the church, Lampropoulos says, "I hope to attend a number of sessions of the church's general conference this April." He then goes on to criticize the street preachers' actions.

The ad ran over conference weekend on a number of Utah stations, including KSL 1160 AM, a church-owned station that broadcasts LDS Church leaders' conference talks live.