GOP chairman will not seek another term

Stan Lockhart, chairman of the Utah Republican Party, has announced that he won't run again for the top GOP post.

Lockhart, a lobbyist for Micron, a Utah County computer chip maker, was recruited to run for chairman two years ago by Republican legislative leaders after GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. decided not to put forward a chairman candidate.

While the Utah Republican Party did well in the 2008 elections — all of its major incumbents won re-election — Republicans lost control of Salt Lake County Council to Democrats, who made gains in the state's largest county. Former House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, also lost his seat, a blow to Republicans.

In addition, Lockhart, husband of state Rep. Becky Lockhart, R-Provo, and some of his close legislative allies were caught up in various minor public relations gaffs, including a Lockhart daughter being elected a state GOP delegate from a university district where she was not living at the time of party neighborhood caucuses.

A new state chairman, and other party officers, will be elected in the June 13 state convention by the 3,500 state GOP delegates. The filing deadline is 30 days before the convention.

Current state party vice chairman Todd Weiler, an attorney and former Davis County GOP chairman, will run for the chairmanship, said Ivan DuBois, state GOP executive director.

Already, Salt Lake County GOP chairman James Evans has said he won't run again as county party chairman (by county rule he's term-limited out of re-election).

And so the state and largest county GOP organizations will have new leaders come summer.

In his announcement, Stan Lockhart listed a number of accomplishments by Utah Republicans during his two-year tenure, including leaving the party with a cash surplus after running the aggressive "I Can" public relations campaign last fall aimed at telling Utahns how state and local governments have benefited from GOP control.

The full text of Lockhart's letter:

Dear Fellow Republicans: