But he does expect to pay himself back for debt he piled up in his first race.

Perhaps that explains the Governor's Special Initiatives Office financial disclosure forms filed last week, in which the Huntsman political action committee reported collecting about $200,000 and spending more than half of that. With a 2004 campaign debt hovering above $500,000, Utah's governor plans to continue raising money until the bank and personal loans are paid off. Then, spokesman Mike Mower says, Huntsman intends to run a bare-bones operation.

"The governor plans on raising minimal amounts for his next campaign," Mower said, "running as inexpensive a campaign as possible."

In the meantime, Huntsman has hired back longtime Republican fundraiser Max Farbman to help plan his October gala and several receptions.

Farbman and his partner, Greg Hopkins, resigned last November after questions surfaced about their client list. Along with raising money for the state Republican Party and several former governors, Farbman Hopkins & Associates represented Economic Development Corporation of Utah, Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts' Cable Sports Network and Huntsman's think tank, the Utah Policy Partnership. The Partnership and Farbman Hopkins even shared an office.

But when the firm took on a job lobbying for Envirocare, now nuclear waste conglomerate EnergySolutions, the governor's fundraisers became a source of embarrassment for the state executive.

Not only had he made a point of refusing donations from the company during his 2004 campaign (even returning $40,000 from one of the owners) but as governor he had pledged to block hotter nuclear waste at the state's borders. The resulting controversy cut Farbman and Hopkins' ties to Huntsman - or at least half of them.

The partnership split up. Hopkins, who led the governor's transition team, took a job with EnergySolutions. The Utah Policy Partnership moved to a new office and its staff took over fundraising duties. But Farbman has continued fundraising for the governor, with Huntsman paying Farbman based on what he raises.

Since the last disclosure deadline, the special projects fund reported raising $40,000 from Utah's dietary supplement industry, $10,000 from Robert Lichfield, founder of a controversial chain of schools for troubled teens, and $25,000 each from Ian Cumming's Leucadia National Corporation and venture capitalist James Swartz.

Huntsman used the money to cover much of his out-of-state travel, the cost of holiday receptions at the Governor's Mansion, a state dinner for outgoing Mexican President Vicente Fox and for china plates and coasters emblazoned with the Utah State seal for Asian ambassadors. After paying more than $8,000 in accounting fees, another $6,100 for a business summit at the Davis Convention Center and $15,300 to Huntsman for Governor, the special initiatives fund has $101,000 in cash on hand.

As of Sept. 15, Farbman and his Big Cottonwood Group had earned $14,600 for coordinating the governor's fundraisers at James Taylor and Faith Hill concerts as well as a series of receptions.

The governor's office insists Farbman's potential conflict of interest is gone. "There are no longer any professional ties" to EnergySolutions, Mower said.

Environmental groups are still watching to make sure that's the case. "Historically, Gov. Huntsman has acted with integrity, not allowing his ties with [EnergySolution's former lobbyists] to affect his commitment to protect Utah from nuclear waste," said Vanessa Pierce, director of the Healthy Environment Alliance (HEAL) Utah.

"But it does make us nervous to see people close to him also have had close ties to EnergySolutions."

University of Utah Political Science professor Matt Burbank believes most voters won't care who the popular governor hires to raise money for him.

"Conflicts of interest tend to attract more public attention when somebody's conflict of interest makes them richer. That's not something Gov. Huntsman has to worry about," Burbank said. "Whoever he wants to hire to do this job, he can hire. There's not a clear public policy connection to this."

Next month, Farbman is in charge of putting on the governor's first gala, his biggest fundraiser and likely the source of donations to settle Huntsman's 2004 campaign debts. The governor loaned his campaign $275,000 and his campaign took out several bank loans totaling $350,000. A year ago, Huntsman said in an interview he planned to approach re-election "without raising any money." Mower now said the governor plans to pay off loans and then cover basic campaign expenses.

Coupled with Huntsman's practice of paying for some of his own travel - including his trade mission to China next month - gifts, catering and meeting space, the governor's office is trying to buff an image of a frugal governor focused on public service.

"He errs on the side of protecting taxpayer dollars," Mower said.

But Burbank says the effort may be wasted on voters. The governor may in fact be able to run a successful campaign without raising significant money. But Huntsman doesn't need to convince voters; he already did that once.

"Ordinarily, running a campaign without money is not realistic. People raise money because they don't know what's going to happen and they want to be ready," Burbank said. "As a campaign strategy, it doesn't make sense to me."