Beattie won't run against Herbert for governor

Salt Lake Chamber President Lane Beattie said Thursday he will not seek the GOP nomination for governor next year.

Beattie, a former GOP president of the Utah Senate, has been looking at challenging soon-to-be Gov. Gary Herbert in 2010 as a fellow Republican.

In an interview Thursday morning, Beattie said he wouldn't run, in part, because "Gary deserves the right to serve." He said he decided about three weeks ago not to run, and at the time asked Herbert to seriously consider Beattie's top chamber aide, Natalie Gochnour, as Herbert's lieutenant governor.

Beattie said he will now support Herbert next year. However, what he may do politically in 2012 and beyond has not been decided, Beattie added.

Should Herbert "struggle" as governor if he wins in 2010, or should Herbert be defeated in 2010, Beattie said his non-run decision could be revisted in 2012. If he wins next year, Herbert would face re-election to his own full four-year term in 2012.

Beattie told the Deseret News several weeks ago he was "serious" about getting into the 2010 contest.

But Beattie added that he wouldn't make an announcement one way or the other until after Lt. Gov. Herbert was sworn in as governor. He changed his mind and decided to speak out now in part to help Gochnour's chance to be picked lieutenant governor, Beattie said.

Beattie said he decided about three weeks ago he wouldn't run, but only after significant behind-the-scenes work and consultations with a number of individuals and groups. When he told Herbert of his decision, he asked Herbert to take a serious look at Gochnour for lieutenant governor.

"She is an incredible woman and an incredible businesswoman," Beattie told the newspaper.

Beattie said he had talked to Herbert several times since.

"No deals were made, we just had very mature discussions," he said. Beattie said he doesn't know if he will have a top position in the Herbert 2010 campaign.

Herbert agrees with Beattie that no deals were made. But, the lieutenant governor said Thursday — only after Beattie told him he wasn't going to run — that he felt free to talk to Gochnour.

"I thought it would be bad form to talk to her beforehand — she working for Lane. But she was always on my long list" of possible lieutenant governors, and now she is on his short list, Herbert said.