From Deseret News archives:
2 quiet assets in governor race
Wives helping but not playing major roles
The wives of Republican Jon Huntsman Jr. and Democrat Scott Matheson Jr. don't have official titles yet. Come Election Day, though, one of the women will become Utah's first lady.
Neither sees the role as influencing the new administration. Just as they say they've done during the campaign, Huntsman and Matheson promised to leave the policy decisions up to their husbands.
"All I do is try to do my best, and stand beside Jon and be encouraging to him as my husband," Huntsman, 43, said. "I'm not the one running for office. I'm not going to get involved in policy. I never have. I kind of tune out in some of those meetings."
She said she does offer advice on "the human heart side. It's always about making sure the bottom line is about touching the human heart. To me, that's the most important thing in anything we do."
Huntsman, a Florida native who moved to Utah as a teenager, said her husband told her on their wedding day to be "ready for an exciting life, one filled with public service and helping others. I knew that's what we would be doing," she said.
That didn't include politics, though, until this race.
It did mean following her husband on his various government assignments, including a stint as the U.S. ambassador to Singapore. Huntsman remembers an earlier posting shortly after they married that took the couple to Taiwan for a year.
"I thought, I could either complain we're going to go anyway or I can go and make the best of it. It ended up being a great experience," Huntsman said. "If you have a positive attitude, you can get through anything."
That goes for the campaign, too. "We're making up for lost time," she said, noting when her husband served as a U.S. trade ambassador under President Bush, he was gone 200 days one year. "We've thoroughly enjoyed being together in the campaign."
Comments
- Fatal crash closes I-84 in Weber Co. 3:50 p.m.
- Fire damages Taylorsville home 3:25 p.m.
- Concert to benefit Ugandan children 3:22 p.m.
- Senate committee approves Voros 3:21 p.m.
- Mya tops fellow celebs 3:16 p.m.
- Stocks zigzag after rally 2:53 p.m.
- Placebo power behind cures 2:49 p.m.
- 'Suspect just shopping screenplay' 2:49 p.m.
- '08 loss 'learning experience' for TCU 2:47 p.m.
- AMA: repeal 'don't ask,don't tell' 2:46 p.m.
- Utah group finds homes for orphans
- Pratt pleads not guilty to sex charges
- Jazz blow big lead, hang on
- Y. tight ends talented tandem
- Senators want food tax restored
- Utes get extra motivation
- Alta's Ohai is Ms. Soccer 2009
- BYU soccer incident still popular
- Lobo land like home for BYU lineman
- Price injured; Miles has cast removed
- House passes health care bill
255 - TCU showdown has big implications
185 - Lobo suspended
184 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
155 - Senators want food tax restored
140 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
131 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
119 - No 'backlash' for pioneers, gays analogy
104 - RSL rallies to advance
103 - Utes pound winless Lobos
89
Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar restaurants nationwide will honor...
Meghan McCain, the daughter of former presidential candidate John...
"G - You realize the '120' number was done as a study, right?" Yes,...
Just so you know (especially Murray Skeptic) I happen to be adopting one of...
Willfully blind | 7:29 a.m. wrote: "We will continue to fight the enemies of...
This is so silly. I can't believe the negativity going on here. This story...
Pretty sure she is making a lot of this up. But also pretty sure that he has...
Cougs listen up who is ranked higher Utah or BYU??? Who has only lost one...
It doesn't say she supported communism. She helped some poor people. She...
for this article. I am tired of reading garbage such as the discrimination...
The story is in the Moromon Times. If it were in the Stamp Collector...
Good luck Utes, I'm cheering for you. This game may be on over here in Iraq,...




You can be the first to comment on this story.