Disclosure shows guv has friends with money

Just three weeks into office, Gov. Gary Herbert has $142,000 in the bank for his 2010 race.

Disclosure forms for his aptly named "Friends of Gary Herbert" political action committee show he found a lot of new friends beginning in June, when it became clear that he was about to replace as governor the now-Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman Jr.

Herbert raised $150,000 since then, and spent just $16,650 to raise it, according to disclosure forms his PAC filed Monday.

Some of the biggest "Friends of Gary" (the PAC is also known as FOGPAC) included:

 The Clyde Companies, including Geneva Rock, Sunroc and Beehive Insurance, which gave him $30,000.

 The Utah Association of Realtors, which gave him $25,000.

 Consol Energy, a coal-mining company, $15,000.

 $10,000 each from the Bill Barrett Corp., a mineral exploration company; PCM Venture 1; and Tom Whitaker of Midway.

That gives Herbert a nice fundraising headstart on any challenger. A number of Utah Democrats hope that Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon will run for governor next year, but he hasn't announced. Many Republicans who had considered challenging Herbert have dropped out over the past month.

"The governor intends to be transparent with his donations," said his press secretary Angie Welling. She said he hopes to have a Web site up in a month or so that will disclose his donations within 72 hours of receipt.

While Herbert is vowing transparency, the Deseret News found that some loopholes in new campaign finance reform create a murky picture of the finances of others.

For example, 15 Utah legislators have not reported raising any money yet. But that does not match what PACs and corporations reported. They said they gave those 15 a total of at least $31,000. (See chart for a list of them.)

The loophole that allowed that came in reform legislation passed this year by Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, who is about to become Herbert's lieutenant governor and thus in charge of financial reporting for all state candidates and officeholders.

The new law, which took effect in mid-May, requires state-level politicians to report donations within 30 days of receiving cash or depositing checks. Previously in non-election years, politicians didn't need to disclose anything at all until a year-end report, making finances even murkier.