Two Republicans often rumored as interested in the 2010 governor's race say they are serious about the contest.

Both Lane Beattie and Kirk Jowers say they will wait until after Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert is officially sworn in as governor before announcing whether they will run. But they both answered "yes" when asked if they were seriously considering running for governor next year.

Jowers, 42, head of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics, seems closest to a decision.

He told the Deseret News that by mid-August any serious gubernatorial candidate "should be organizing," if only behind the scenes if Herbert has not yet been sworn in. "You need to be lining up some donors, some (big-name) supporters, moving ahead," Jowers said.

"Gary has done an incredible job working the (state GOP) delegates," Jowers said. But that doesn't mean Herbert's Republican nomination is certain — one only needs 40 percent of the state delegate vote to get into a Republican primary, and an outright convention win is always possible.

"In any race, you need to be authentic and articulate, take your stands — in some areas you may be to the right of Gary, but on others you may be more moderate," said Jowers, adding that historically GOP delegates are open to hearing challengers' arguments. This would be Jowers' first race as a candidate, although he has been closely involved in a number of contests, including Mitt Romney's 2008 GOP presidential campaign.

Beattie, 57, president of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce and former president of the Utah Senate, said in deference to Herbert, whom he described as "a longtime friend," he wouldn't be making any public statements until after Herbert officially becomes governor.

"No one should steal his thunder" by starting a campaign before Herbert's official succession, added Beattie, who served 12 years in the Senate, from 1988 to 2000, the last six as president. At the same time, a challenge to Herbert should not be seen as an insult to him, said Beattie, but rather that others have different qualifications, personalities and themes they think can make a difference.

Herbert is expected to succeed Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who will resign his post after he is confirmed by the U.S. Senate as ambassador to China.

That nomination, while expected to proceed smoothly toward confirmation by senators, has not yet happened. President Barack Obama said in mid-May that he intended to nominate Huntsman, who won re-election last November.