Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has his own unconventional ideas about how he wants to kick off his second term.

Instead of a stodgy gala with ball gowns and black ties, he envisions a sort of Huntsman-palooza, a music bash with Utah bands headlined by the rock group The Killers, whose lead singer grew up in Nephi.

It would seem the governor, who won re-election with a record 77 percent of the vote, might be able to pull off a music festival. It's less clear whether Huntsman's decisive victory will give him the political capital he needs to dictate Utah's political agenda over the next four years.

Huntsman said on election night that he sees the results as a public blessing of his first four years, and a mandate to tackle a host of other issues in his second and final term, including climate change, immigration policy and changes to the tax structure.

"I think that the margin of victory certainly shows that Utah citizens trust the governor and are willing to back his initiatives and priorities," said Kirk Jowers, director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics. "I think we will see the governor taking the lead on more issues, as he also continues to guide the Legislature on his own initiatives."

"There's a whole range of issues that we've put out there that are nontraditional. Yet I know they're issues people have thought about and hoped for, and we're going to get a lot of them done," Huntsman said.

It's a scenario that has played out before. In 1996, Gov. Mike Leavitt rolled to a huge re-election victory, winning 75 percent of the vote, a record until Huntsman's win on Tuesday.

"It's first an affirmation of what you have been doing and second a ratification that you ought to move forward" with your vision for the second term, said Charlie Johnson, who was Leavitt's chief of staff.

Free, at that time, of the prospect of future elections, the Leavitt staff started with a blank slate, setting ambitious goals for the coming four years. But any aura of inevitability didn't last long.

"A mandate from the people . . . does not mean the same from the Legislature," Johnson said. "When you get to that legislative session, the legislative leaders have their own agenda, and it was a hard session."

Huntsman has already staked out lofty goals for his second term, some of which will enjoy backing from the Legislature, but others might be a tougher slog.

"It's really knocking home our priority on the economy and teachers and health-system reform," Huntsman said. "There's no reason why over the next three to four years we can't do something as dramatic as completely close the gap on the uninsured and achieve parity on teacher pay with the rest of the nation."

The health reform is already under way. A task force, which includes legislative leaders, has spent the past eight months studying the issue and is committed to action.

"There's no question something is going to happen," said Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, who was chosen Friday as the Senate's new majority leader.

Rep. Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, who is the front-runner to become speaker of the House with the defeat of Rep. Greg Curtis, is equally committed.

"Personally, there is some frustration. I would like it to move faster," he said. "It's too important not to see the benefits from it."

Any hope the governor has of drastically increasing education funding - or funding for any new programs, for that matter - will hinge on the extent and duration of the economic downturn.

Kim Campbell, president of the Utah Education Association teachers union, said that as many as 14,000 new students are expected to enter Utah schools next year, the equivalent of one new school district.

"Even with the economic downturn, we hope that policymakers will recognize there are economic benefits to investing in public schools," Campbell said. "That's one of the ways we know will help the economy improve and provide new jobs in every county in the state."

And then there are issues where Huntsman has broken with the Republican establishment altogether, and finds himself at odds with a large portion of the Legislature.

Nowhere is the chasm more evident than the governor's advocacy of a regional cap-and-trade plan for carbon emissions, part of a climate-change initiative that has irritated Republican lawmakers.

Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said that if the governor pushes for a milder version of carbon emission reduction, there is a chance the Legislature might go along. But if he pushes for a firm cap, it will be a hard sell.

"I can't see the Utah Legislature adopting something that would be punitive to jobs in our state," said Stephenson.

Other potential flashpoints with the Legislature could arise with the governor's push to end Utah's membership requirements for bars, his drive for renewable energy, his priority on reforming the state's ethics and campaign laws, and his call for repealing the remainder of the state's share of the sales tax on food.

But the balance of power may also have shifted in the governor's favor Tuesday, said Jowers. Huntsman's dominant win, coupled with the defeat of House Speaker Greg Curtis, a force in past legislative sessions, may make for a new dynamic at Utah's Capitol.

"It will take time for the new speaker to get to the point where he or she feels that he has a similarly clear vision," said Jowers. "That vacuum in leadership, I think, will be more than filled by Governor Huntsman."

Senators also opted for a new leadership team Friday, choosing Sen. Mike Waddoups as the chamber's new president and Killpack as the new majority leader.

Clark says the relationship between the Legislature and governor has been good in the past.

"Maybe there's a different style of doing it, but there's no reason to expect there won't be some cooperative effort," he said. "Stay tuned."

gehrke@sltrib.com

Huntsman's agenda

Health care reform

Teacher pay increases

Ethics reform

Climate change/renewable energy

Elimination of state sales tax