Utah House Speaker Marty Stephens, R-Farr West, seriously considered challenging Leavitt for the GOP nomination. But Stephens figured he had to beat Leavitt in the state convention, or lose to Leavitt's huge campaign war chest and general good standing among all Utahns in what was then an open Republican primary. Stephens ultimately didn't get in the race, but a few unknown Republicans did.

The unrest with Leavitt from his own party's right wing was apparent in the 2000 convention. He was booed when he gave his speech and forced into a primary with a virtually unknown GOP challenger. Leavitt easily beat him in the primary and went on to defeat Democrat Bill Orton in the final election. But Leavitt didn't carry Salt Lake County, the state's largest, against Orton.

Leavitt was considering a run for a fourth term this year and had quietly put together a re-election campaign as a number of legitimate GOP challengers started lining up. But when President Bush asked him to become administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency last August, Leavitt agreed. He resigned in November, with Lt. Gov. Olene Walker stepping up to finish Leavitt's third term.

During a recent interview with the Deseret Morning News, Huntsman said Leavitt made a huge mistake by running for a third term.

"When you run for a third term you are focused on higher aspirations," he said. "You take your eye off what is best for the state."

While rumors persist that Huntsman has an eye on a U.S. Senate seat (in recent years, a number of GOP governors have won Senate seats), Utah's Senate seats are locked up by longtime GOP incumbents Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett. Huntsman said he would never use the governor's office as a step to higher office.

"I have been to Washington, and I have no interest in going back," Huntsman said.

Of course, one must always take a politician's pledge of self-limiting terms with a grain of salt. When Bennett, R-Utah, first ran in 1992, he said he would serve two six-year terms and then retire. But Bennett later changed his mind and announced he'd run for a third term in 2004. This year he faces former Democratic Attorney General Paul Van Dam.

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Additional information: Jon Huntsman Jr.'s answers to the Deseret Morning News questionnaire Nolan Karras' answers to the Deseret Morning News questionnaire

To give readers a better sense of Karras' and Huntsman's stands on a number of issues, the Deseret Morning News asked the two Republicans, who face each other in a June 22 primary, several dozen questions. Their answers, including their views on self-limiting their own terms, can be found in full by clicking on the links in the box on the right.

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com