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A day after taking heat for declining a series of debates with Democrat Mike Weinholtz, Gov. Gary Herbert has changed course and agreed to a debate Friday afternoon before the Utah League of Cities and Towns — the same day as the governor's gala, his largest fundraiser of the year.
Herbert's campaign manager, Marty Carpenter, said the campaign had initially declined the invitation because Herbert was scheduled to be on a trade mission to Canada, but the governor was able to fly home early and rearrange other events on his schedule in order to participate.
It was not, Carpenter said, giving in to pressure from the Weinholtz campaign for dodging debates.
"The governor is happy he's going to be able to accommodate it," Carpenter said.
Weinholtz said he's glad the governor changed his mind because voters deserve to see the candidates side by side, but he wishes Herbert didn't have to be pressured to participate.
"I think it's unfortunate that he had to be talked into it, maybe even shamed into it," said Weinholtz, who has accepted every debate invitation that has been extended and collected 2,000 signatures on online petitions urging Herbert to debate. "It's unfortunate that the governor waited until 3 p.m. the day before a morning debate to say he was going to show up, but I'm ready. I'm experienced and ready for this."
The debate will be held at 12:45 p.m. at the Utah League of Cities and Towns' annual conference at the Sheraton Hotel. League staff members were scrambling to pull the debate together Thursday.
Herbert and Weinholtz will participate in a second debate, sponsored by the Utah Debate Commission on Sept. 26 at Utah State University.
The first meeting of the two gubernatorial candidates will come the same day as the governor's gala fundraising bash thrown annually dating back to Gov. Mike Leavitt. Herbert has raked in dozens of checks for as much as $25,000 from companies wishing to sponsor the event.
The event typically brings somewhere between $750,000 and $1 million to the governor's campaign coffers, but has also garnered criticism for the aggressive fundraising among businesses that may either have contracts or other involvement with state government.
The theme for the event is "American Heroes" and will feature patriotic-themed entertainment and an appearance by Stan Ellsworth, who hosts American Ride, a television show on BYUtv where Ellsworth travels the country on a Harley Davidson discussing American history.
Presenting sponsors for the event give $25,000 and get access for 10 people to a VIP reception with the governor and three tables for the gala; supporting sponsors give $10,000 and receive admission for six and two tables; table sponsors give $5,000 for a table for eight; couples pay $1,000 to attend the dinner and an individual ticket is $650.
Raising money for the gala was a focal point of a meeting that Herbert held with several dozen lobbyists days after he came in second at the Utah Republican Convention in April. In the meeting, Herbert's fundraiser pressed the lobbyists to get their checks for the gala in early and said that Herbert would be available for one-on-one meetings with clients who gave to the governor's campaign.
It was in that meeting that Herbert made the now-infamous comment — which was made public in a recording provided to The Tribune — that he would be "Available Jones" to meet with donors, a reference to a character in the vintage comic strip "Li'l Abner" who would do anything for a price.
Herbert's Republican primary opponent, Jonathan Johnson, hammered Herbert for the comments, but Herbert won that June showdown handily.
Weinholtz swore off corporate money in the wake of the Available Jones comments — almost entirely self-funding his campaign. The Democrat said he would like to see Utah's election laws tightened to include caps on contributions to stem the influence of money in politics.
"It seems typical of the way Gary Herbert raises money," he said. "We've talked about his 'Available Jones' tendencies before of getting big checks from corporations. Last election cycle he raised over a million dollars at this single event, largely from oil and gas companies … developers and Realtors. It's typical."
Carpenter said the "Available Jones" comment has had no bearing on how the campaign approaches this year's event.
"The gala is an event we do annually and it's obviously the major fundraiser for the governor's re-election efforts, so I don't think it necessarily had any impact," he said.
Herbert has raised more than $2.3 million for his re-election bid, according to his most recent financial disclosure.
His largest donor was the Republican Governors Association, which pumped $250,000 into the race after Herbert won the primary.
Carpenter said the RGA wanted to help replenish Herbert's campaign account that was depleted after the primary. Executives from Warner Trucking gave $100,000; Rustler Investments, based in Las Vegas, gave $55,000; Gail Miller, owner of the Larry H. Miller Companies, gave $50,000, as did NuSkin and its executives and Keller Investments, a real-estate company owned by Scott Keller.
Other prominent donors include Questar, Rocky Mountain Power and the Utah Bankers Association.
Weinholtz has taken an entirely different approach. He has raised very little money — less than $200,000 total — but has loaned his campaign $2.5 million of his own money.
Twitter: @RobertGehrke