Greene won't run for term at helm of Republican Party

Enid Greene, Utah Republicans' first female party chairperson, will not run for her own two-year term as state party leader in the June party convention, she said Friday.

But whether she ran or not, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. will not be endorsing her or any other candidate for the top party post — a change in tradition.

"I am not going to run," said Greene, who was appointed to head the party earlier this year. "We all assumed Fred Lampropoulos was going to run and would be the governor's pick. I don't know why (Lampropoulos) isn't. But this is quite a change. It is a wide open field."

Lampropoulos ran against Huntsman for governor in 2004, losing in the state party convention.

Historically, the "top of the ticket" GOP incumbent recruits or anoints the Republican Party chairman. That won't be the case this year.

"It is a change," acknowledged Jeff Hartley, state GOP executive director on Friday after meeting with top Huntsman aides.

Greene — divorced from convicted felon Joe Waldholtz for more than a decade — is planning to remarry this summer. And she said she wants to give her time to personal pursuits.

"We're selling houses and building a house and blending families and I have much to do," said Greene. She's not closing the door to any future political campaign, just this one. "I want to see the party in good hands. There's a bit of a vacuum in leadership. I believe we will find a good chairman; it just won't be me."

Mike Mower, Huntsman deputy chief of staff and spokesman, said "The governor encourages all good candidates" for party chairman to run.

"And the governor will work closely with anyone who wins" the two-year term as party chairman, Mower added.

Huntsman is running for re-election in 2008, and is the "top of the ticket" candidate for Republicans, said Hartley. As such, historically Huntsman would have a big say in who the next party chairman is.

"It was never a backroom kind of an agreement," said Hartley. "It was a gentleman's agreement so we wouldn't get into the position of the governor backing one (chairman) candidate, and the two U.S. senators backing others and so on.

"Of course, the (state GOP) delegates really have the final say — they elect the party leaders," said Hartley. Still, the anointed chair candidate has traditionally won the election and then works closely with the top-ticket candidate's campaign.