The show will go on.

Despite lingering questions dogging Gov. Gary Herbert's campaign over whether his administration did favors for big donors, Herbert and many of those same donors will gather Saturday for the governor's annual gala, a black-tie fundraiser expected to raise as much as $600,000.

"Things are going ahead as planned," said Herbert campaign spokesman Don Olsen. "[Things] are planned at least weeks in advance and, to the best of my knowledge, there are no changes at all. … I don't know how it could be changed."

Several hundred well-heeled business leaders and lobbyists will gather at Grand America Hotel on Saturday night.

Contributions run the gamut from a few thousand dollars up to the sponsorship level of $25,000.

That is half the required donation to be a top-tier sponsor at the gala last October, when the newly minted governor raked in roughly $1 million for his campaign.

Sponsors who are giving $25,000 for this year's event include Qwest, Bill Barrett Corp., a major oil and gas developer and Rancho Market.

The event comes after a brutal week for the Herbert campaign, which has been pounded by Democratic opponent Peter Corroon over questions of the governor soliciting large checks from corporate donors that later received perks from the state.

It's bad timing for the Herbert campaign, said Matthew Burbank, chairman of the political science department at the University of Utah.

"Obviously, that is usually a sizable fundraiser and usually it's exactly the kind of fundraising people would expect — the people who can give large donations," Burbank said. "I think this is just probably bad timing for him and he's going to have to ride it out."

The fundraising issue probably doesn't hurt the governor with his core constituents who oppose campaign finance limits anyway, but it could damage him among moderate Republicans and independents, Burbank said.

Corroon said Thursday the issue, in his eyes, is about the need for state ethics reform and limits on campaign contributions, an issue he has been pushing since January.

"As governor, Gary Herbert should be leading ethics reform, not looking for the lowest common denominator," Corroon said.

Herbert has steadfastly opposed any limits on campaign contributions. As long as there is transparency and the donations are reported, he has argued, voters can decide for themselves if they're comfortable with the donations.

"Whether I got $50,000 or $10,000 or $5,000, you could have the same argument. You know, are you buying your politician? Are you buying influence, access? But why is $50,000 too much and $25,000 not?" Herbert said on the eve of his fundraiser last year. "Either you believe your politicians are honest or not, and I think that you ought to address that based on their conduct."

It is Herbert's conduct regarding his donors that Corroon is attempting to exploit. Last week, the Corroon campaign distributed a lengthy memo titled "Gary Herbert: Governor for $ale" that laid out several instances in which Herbert's wealthy donors had received contracts, tax breaks or other benefits.

Herbert angrily denied Corroon's allegations and called it a smear campaign.

But the governor and Utah Department of Transportation officials spent much of the week explaining how a donor who has given Herbert's campaign $87,500 won a $1.1 billion bid to rebuild Interstate-15, and why UDOT paid $13 million to the second-place bidder when that company claimed the winning firm had received preferential treatment.

Now the two sides are bashing each other in television ads — Corroon's featuring a "For Sale" sign in front of the Governor's Mansion and Herbert's showing Lt. Gov. Greg Bell calling Corroon's claims a "disservice" to Utah voters.

On Thursday, Herbert released a letter to Corroon blasting the mayor and demanding he "repudiate" assertions his campaign has made that the governor said has "no basis of truth."

"You create a perception that Utah allows a system of 'pay for play.' That, Mayor Corroon, is not only absolutely false — you know it is false!" Herbert wrote. "In a very real sense you, Mayor Corroon, have tarnished the very good name of Utah — and I will not let your allegations go unchallenged."

Burbank said he thinks Herbert is wrong in asserting that the timing and nature of contributions crosses the bounds of campaign decency.

"I realize it's not a topic that Herbert is particularly comfortable with, but I think it's exactly the kind of thing that ought to be talked about in a campaign," Burbank said.

At a minimum, e-mails from the Governor's Office show that organizers of the governor's gala last year later arranged one-on-one meetings with the governor, so Herbert could thank them for their support.

Corroon said Thursday he doesn't think his ads are "negative," but are "hard-hitting."

For his part, Corroon has also received several contributions that exceed the $10,000 limit he thinks should be put on gubernatorial campaigns. But Corroon said he has to play by the rules in place in order to compete with Herbert's fundraising and there is no indication anyone received special treatment from his office. —

Governor's Gala top-tier donors

The top sponsorships at this year's gala are going for half the $50,000 apiece requested last year. Those committed to a $25,000 contribution this year are:

IM Flash, a computer processor maker

Qwest

Anadarko Petroleum

Consol Energy, a coal company

Bill Barrett Corp., a major oil and gas developer

Red Ledges, a resort in Heber City

Rancho Market

Rocky Mountain Power

Huntsman family