This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Jonathan Johnson, the former president and CEO of Overstock.com, officially announced Saturday that he will challenge Gov. Gary Herbert for the 2016 Republican nomination for governor, dismissing Herbert as a manager who has kowtowed to the federal government, and telling state GOP delegates that he could offer a new vision.
"I am ready to lead the state of Utah. I am making it official. I want to be Utah's next governor," Johnson said.
Herbert dismissed the criticism from the challenger as a bid for attention.
"Understand, he's throwing his hat in the ring to run for governor, so he's got to find something. He'll say whatever he needs to say to become relevant. It doesn't matter if it's true or not," Herbert said.
Herbert said there is a list of accomplishments during his tenure — a sharp drop in unemployment, the fastest economic growth in the country and a significant investment in public education — and he plans to run on those issues.
"I'm comfortable with where we're at, our track record, and I'm prepared to defend it," he said.
Johnson bought ad space in the convention program and early Saturday launched a Facebook page and Twitter profile, asking voters to hire him to be governor.
As part of that, Johnson asked delegates to conduct a lengthy interview process, and challenged Herbert to a series of debates over the coming months, asking delegates to text their support — or opposition — to the debates.
Herbert said he's happy to debate when the campaign season gets closer.
It is highly unusual for a candidate challenging an incumbent to land a speaking slot at the state convention, but Johnson secured a spot on the podium via a new program implemented by party chairman James Evans that essentially sells speaking time at the convention, granting eight-minute slots to anyone who donates $25,000 to the party.
Herbert's campaign team was not happy that Johnson was given the speaking spot during the state convention and tried Friday to keep him from addressing the 2,000 state delegates on hand, but the efforts were rebuffed.
Damon Cann, a political science professor at Utah State University, said it's not surprising that Johnson is getting into the race — he had been hiring staff and doing numerous speaking engagements in recent months — but he does have a tough road ahead.
"It's just hard to beat an incumbent governor who has approval ratings over 70 percent," Cann said. "Johnson has a long slog ahead of him if he wants to be successful. Governor Herbert is very popular and he's going to have to work pretty hard to identify weak spots he can poke at."
That said, Cann added, Johnson's background in business, presumably deep pockets and libertarian leanings give him "the profile of a person who would have as good a shot at success as anyone would have. It's just the chance of success aren't that great."
Johnson criticized Herbert's lack of assertive leadership and vision, saying Utah needs a leader if it is to continue to grow.
"Effective leadership is not just managing," Johnson said. "[Leadership] is not about lip service to state rights and looking to Washington for solutions."
He criticized Herbert for not taking action to cut off money to Planned Parenthood in Utah until Friday, the day before the GOP convention, for not being more aggressive in asserting state management of federal land, and for failing to oppose Common Core — the set of reading and math standards that the state has adopted.
"I'd take some action," Johnson said. That could include filing a lawsuit demanding Congress turn federal land over to the state. "Sometimes in order to negotiate you need to show a willingness to litigate."
Herbert has $1.3 million sitting in his political account. Johnson would not discuss how much of his own money he would put into the race, but said he would "compete with him dollar-for-dollar."
Johnson is currently chairman of the board of Overstock.com and has been active in conservative causes over the last several years, going back to the school voucher movement, an effort to beat back unions in the state and, more recently, an effort to expand civics education in schools.
Twitter: @RobertGehrke