A whiff of conflicts in guv race

Successful private-sector people running for high office are bound to have conflicts of interest — real or perceived.

GOP gubernatorial candidates Nolan Karras and Jon Huntsman Jr. are no exception. In fact, some of their potential conflicts are especially interesting.

What other candidate's family has a charitable cause — a cancer-fighting institute and hospital — receiving public tax dollars appropriated by the Legislature and approved by the governor?

And what about a candidate's role as a financial consultant for the Workers Compensation Fund of Utah? The insurance fund sued the state since the state rejected the fund's $50 million offer to sever all ties with the governor's office.

If elected governor, "I would step away from all of my clients — and never return to my consulting firm," said Karras, 59, a financial consultant with more than 300 clients, one of them the WCF, overseeing investments of $500 million.

Karras faces Huntsman, 44, whose family owns the largest privately held chemicals firm in the world, in the June 22 Republican primary. The winner goes against Democrat Scott Matheson in November.

The Huntsman family has given hundreds of millions of dollars to causes in Utah, including the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, which receives nearly $7 million annually in state funds to operate the institute and the new Huntsman Cancer Hospital next door, and to make payments on a $100 million, legislative-approved revenue bond.

Karras declined to provide a list of all of his clients, saying many are friends or small investors who clearly have nothing to do with the state. He did outline his "major clients" and any possible connections they may have with state government or state issues.

Karras said he sits on the boards of directors of some of the firms for which he provides financial consulting. And in some cases he owns stock in those firms.

Besides the Workers Compensation Fund, Karras said one of his large clients is Regents BlueCross BlueShield of Portland, which bought out the old BlueCross BlueShield of Utah health insurance giant several years ago.

Karras and the brokerage firm he's associated with, Raymond James Financial Services, provide consulting and investment services for Khosrow Semnani, owner of Envirocare of Utah, the hazardous/low-level radioactive waste disposal firm in western Tooele County. Semnani has been a high-profile and controversial political player in Utah for years.