Stewart's appointment was suddenly problematic because he would be overseeing all kinds of low-income programs for the state, and it was an embarrassment for him and Leavitt that someone could criticize Stewart for not properly maintaining low-income rental units and avoiding taxes. Stewart resigned six months after taking office.

Huntsman says he's not trying to micromanage too many state programs, and that all along he pledged to oversee the state's economic development.

Indeed, Huntsman said Thursday he will personally handle the state's international economic development efforts.

"I'll do the international stuff myself. I think I do it well."

Huntsman resigned his trade ambassadorship in the current Bush administration to return to Utah to run for governor. He speaks Mandarin Chinese (learned on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and was in charge of Asian trade work for Bush.

And while Huntsman is moving some more work directly into the governor's office, he said he's not trying to "empower the governor's office beyond what it should do."

State government is 22,000 people "with a lot of moving parts," Huntsman said. In some cases, like economic development and tourism, "I want a small team put together to get it done."

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Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche

E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com