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With a nod to Hollywood and Utah military veterans, Gov. Gary Herbert hosted his annual black-tie fundraising gala Friday night, with hopes of bringing in about a million dollars.

It is an annual fundraising tradition made possible by what has been described as Utah's "wild, wild West" campaign laws.

The theme of the night, "Hollywood Comes To Utah," focused on movies made in the state, including films like "Footloose," "127 Hours," and "High School Musical."

Herbert touted the successes in the state during his tenure — an economy growing faster than the national average, the second-best job creation rate in the country and a business climate that has been rated as the best in the nation.

Herbert also used the Veterans Day event to honor U.S. military personnel, particularly a group of Nisei veterans, Japanese-American soldiers who were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in Washington last week and honored at the Utah Capitol on Friday for their service during World War II.

In keeping with the past practice, the governor presented a check for $10,000 to charity, this time the Utah Department of Veterans Affairs.

"We can simply never say thank you enough to those who serve in our armed forces," Herbert said.

The campaign said the event was a sell-out and brought in nearly $1.3 million, although that includes contributions to the campaign since June. An estimated 1,400 people paid $500 a person to attend the event, with 11 major sponsors giving up to $25,000 each.

"What's significant about the figure for us is we had to raise an additional $2 million [to host] the National Governors Association earlier this year," said Ben Horsley a spokesman for the campaign.

Dozens of Republican legislators and government officials were also in attendance, the guests of various corporations that covered the cost of admission. Under Utah law, the gifts to the lawmakers do not have to be reported, according to Mark Thomas, deputy chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Greg Bell, whose office oversees lobbyist reporting.

"People are pleased with his leadership," said Utah Republican Party Chairman Thomas Wright. "It's a good turnout and there's a good cross-section of Republicans attending tonight."

Utah is one of the few states that has no restrictions on the amounts of campaign contributions and that allows corporations to give to campaigns.

A commission appointed by Herbert's predecessor, then-Gov. Jon Huntsman, to study ways to reform Utah's political system, unanimously recommended limiting contributions in 2009, but Herbert rejected the recommendation.

"Utah is just of kind of the wild, wild West as far as campaign spending and without some reasonable limits it emphasizes the large donor at the expense of the small donor," said attorney Randy Dryer, who crafted the recommended limits. "What we ought to be doing is trying to encourage people to express themselves and get involved in politics and one way you can do that is by making a contribution."

But average donors see their contributions as inconsequential, Dryer said, when big corporations donate upwards of $50,000.

Herbert has opposed limits, arguing that unlimited contributions give lesser-known candidates an opportunity to compete and that campaigns should be transparent. Dryer argues that the big donations shift the balance toward incumbents.

Herbert's campaign is also being less transparent than in the past, when it has immediately posted donors and dollar figures on its Web site. Horsley said that once Herbert files for re-election next year, he will begin updating the donations on the Web site. Until then, it will comply with the regular reporting requirements.

Last year, during his election bid, Herbert's donors became a campaign issue, as his Democratic opponent, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, suggested the donors were getting state contracts and special treatment because of their contributions.

In particular, one donor that had given $85,000 to Herbert's campaign received a $1.1 billion contract to rebuild Interstate 15 in Utah County. The bid process prompted a threat of a contract dispute and the state ended up paying $13 million to settle the complaint.

On Thursday, Herbert's first challenger announced his candidacy — Republican Rep. Ken Sumsion said he would seek the GOP nomination.

But the campaign is expecting others, including a potential contest with Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, who would likely pose the biggest threat.

Kelly Patterson, director of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, said the million-dollar war chest is considerable, especially in Utah, and candidates always want to be cautious.

"Most politicians never believe they have enough resources to run their campaign, so no matter who you think your opponent is you still raise money and no matter how difficult you think your campaign is going to be, you still raise money and accumulate resources," Patterson said.

The research is mixed, Patterson said, on whether a big campaign account works in deterring other candidates from getting into the race.

Matt Lyon, executive director of the Utah Democratic Party, said that despite his attempted show of strength, Herbert is weak.

"He's trying to show himself out there, standing big and tall and powerful and really it's him running scared," Lyon said. "He's scared of who the opponents are, he's scared of who's out there."

Horsley said that's not the case.

"The governor obviously is focused on leading the state, but is well prepared for any opponent," Horsley said. "[He] is not going to focus on any candidate until he files as a candidate himself." —

Top donors

Below is a list of donors who gave at least $25,000 to Gov. Gary Herbert's re-election campaign:

Alan & Karen Ashton

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

Bill Barrett Corp.

Deseret Power

Fresenius Medical Care

Gardner Co.

Jon M. Huntsman

Larry H. Miller Group

Blake Roney

Wasatch Property Management

Workers Compensation Fund —

Top donors

O For a list of Herbert's top donors, go to › sltrib.com.