In a wide-ranging meeting last week with Gov.-elect Jon Huntsman Jr., Walker made a plea on behalf of about 20 state officials appointed by former Gov. Mike Leavitt. Among those mentioned by name: Department of Environmental Quality Director Dianne Nielson and Administrative Services Director Camille Anthony.

Huntsman spokesman Jason Chaffetz says the governor-elect's transition team will review every state department - and their appointed leaders.

"A lot of them we knew. Some of them we didn't," said Chaffetz. "We're going to give everybody a fair shake. There are a lot of good, quality people involved in government. But there will also be a breath of fresh air. That's just natural with any transition."

In Utah government, there are 570 at-will employees and a core of 165 appointed executives including department directors, governor's office staff and commissioners. When Leavitt resigned a year ago to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Walker retained all of his appointed advisers. Wednesday, in a three-hour meeting on every topic from Hill Air Force Base to working with the attorney general, she urged Huntsman to keep some of them on in a new administration.

Walker's job recommendations are just one facet of a transition from 12 years of Leavitt-Walker leadership on Capitol Hill. The governor also asked Huntsman to consider her reading initiative, efforts to resolve wilderness road litigation and a tax-reform plan she will release later this month.

The change in power puts Walker in a strange position of asking favors from a man some believe undermined her efforts to win an elected term as governor.

Walker campaign workers and confidants largely blamed the Huntsman campaign for the governor's ouster from the State Republican Convention in May.

At the state convention, an irritated Walker recounted how one zealous Huntsman volunteer would show up at delegate lunches to ask questions about the governor's controversial veto of the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship legislation.

At the Iron County Republican Convention, Huntsman's mother, Karen Huntsman, reportedly told a Walker campaign worker and son-in-law that Utah government needed a "change or new generation" of leadership. Karen Huntsman called the governor a few months later to apologize and also did so in person.

Conservative state GOP delegates ultimately dumped Walker in favor of Huntsman and Board of Regents Chairman Nolan Karras. Walker declined to endorse either Huntsman or Karras before the June Republican primary.

She broke political protocol and used that decision to justify not endorsing Huntsman before the general election. But two of her daughters backed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Scott Matheson Jr.

Walker spokeswoman Amanda Covington says any residual tension between the two camps has dissipated. The governor met earlier with both Huntsman and Matheson to brief them on her tax-reform plan.

She delayed four days of budget briefings until the end of last week to allow the new governor-elect and his advisers to sit in. And Walker's staff arranged for space and equipment in the State Office Building, where a dozen Huntsman transition employees will work.

"It really is fine," Covington said.

Chaffetz echoes that. He says when Walker went to Huntsman's hotel room on election night and shook the governor-elect's hand, the competition-induced hostility slipped away.

"It's fair to say there was tension earlier in the campaign. We were competitors," Chaffetz said. "She's a very popular governor - and rightfully so. We respect that. At this point, it's been open arms."

Huntsman will be sworn in Jan. 3. Next week, Chaffetz says the governor-elect will name transition teams to evaluate personnel, department heads and "efficiencies."

Anthony - one of the appointed employees Walker apparently would like Huntsman to keep - is doing her part to ease the transfer of power. She has asked all of the agency directors she manages to prepare "issue briefs" for Huntsman's transition teams. Anthony, a Walker adviser since she worked on her brief congressional campaign 12 years ago, said she plans to stay at least through the end of the year.

"We all know that we serve at the pleasure of a governor," she said. "We understand there is change coming. We're prepared to accommodate that and provide whatever information we can so Gov.-elect Huntsman can make good decisions. We're focused on serving the citizens of the state. That part hasn't changed."