1976 Utah gubernatorial election
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November 2, 1976 | |||||||||||||||||
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 County results Matheson: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Romney: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Utah |
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The 1976 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1976. Democratic candidate Scott M. Matheson defeated Republican nominee Vernon B. Romney, who had defeated Dixie L. Leavitt for his party's nomination, with 52.02% of the vote.
Primary election
Primary elections were held on September 14, 1976.
Democratic primary
Candidates
- John P. Creer, attorney and Democratic nominee for Attorney General in 1968
- Scott M. Matheson, attorney and general counsel for Union Pacific Railroad
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Scott M. Matheson | 50,505 | 58.96% | |
| Democratic | John P. Creer | 35,154 | 41.04% | |
| Total votes | 85,659 | 100.00% | ||
Republican primary
Candidates
- Dixie L. Leavitt, member of Utah State Senate
- Vernon B. Romney, Attorney General of Utah
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Vernon B. Romney | 87,251 | 53.40% | |
| Republican | Dixie L. Leavitt | 76,139 | 46.60% | |
| Total votes | 163,390 | 100.00% | ||
General election
Candidates
- Scott M. Matheson, Democratic
- Vernon B. Romney, Republican
- L. S. Brown, American Party
- Betty Bates, Concerned Citizens
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Scott M. Matheson | 280,706 | 52.02% | −17.67% | |
| Republican | Vernon B. Romney | 248,027 | 45.96% | +15.64% | |
| American | L. S. Brown | 7,201 | 1.33% | ||
| Concerned Citizens | Betty Bates | 3,715 | 0.69% | ||
| Total votes | 539,649 | 100.00% | |||
| Majority | 32,679 | 6.06% | |||
| Democratic hold | Swing | -33.31% | |||
Results by county
| County[2] | Scott M. Matheson Demcoratic | Vernon B. Romney Republican | L. S. Brown American | Betty Bates Concerned Citizens | Margin | Total votes cast | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Beaver | 1,270 | 61.83% | 760 | 37.00% | 16 | 0.78% | 8 | 0.39% | 510 | 24.83% | 2,054 |
| Box Elder | 5,681 | 42.19% | 7,241 | 53.78% | 465 | 3.45% | 78 | 0.58% | -1,560 | -11.59% | 13,465 |
| Cache | 9,528 | 41.29% | 12,713 | 55.10% | 603 | 2.61% | 230 | 1.00% | -3,185 | -13.80% | 23,074 |
| Carbon | 6,601 | 76.41% | 1,971 | 22.82% | 40 | 0.46% | 27 | 0.31% | 4,630 | 53.59% | 8,639 |
| Daggett | 185 | 51.82% | 164 | 45.94% | 5 | 1.40% | 3 | 0.84% | 21 | 5.88% | 357 |
| Davis | 22,420 | 47.58% | 23,618 | 50.12% | 564 | 1.20% | 522 | 1.11% | -1,198 | -2.54% | 47,124 |
| Duchesne | 1,874 | 47.28% | 1,941 | 48.97% | 124 | 3.13% | 25 | 0.63% | -67 | -1.69% | 3,964 |
| Emery | 2,180 | 60.25% | 1,348 | 37.26% | 72 | 1.99% | 18 | 0.50% | 832 | 23.00% | 3,618 |
| Garfield | 774 | 43.95% | 920 | 52.24% | 56 | 3.18% | 11 | 0.62% | -146 | -8.29% | 1,761 |
| Grand | 1,653 | 59.01% | 1,100 | 39.27% | 23 | 0.82% | 25 | 0.89% | 553 | 19.74% | 2,801 |
| Iron | 3,878 | 56.95% | 2,787 | 40.93% | 117 | 1.72% | 28 | 0.41% | 1,091 | 16.02% | 6,810 |
| Juab | 1,285 | 51.28% | 1,172 | 46.77% | 28 | 1.12% | 21 | 0.84% | 113 | 4.51% | 2,506 |
| Kane | 663 | 44.23% | 789 | 52.64% | 41 | 2.74% | 6 | 0.40% | -126 | -8.41% | 1,499 |
| Millard | 1,746 | 44.27% | 2,046 | 51.88% | 119 | 3.02% | 33 | 0.84% | -300 | -7.61% | 3,944 |
| Morgan | 1,049 | 48.30% | 1,065 | 49.03% | 45 | 2.07% | 13 | 0.60% | -16 | -0.74% | 2,172 |
| Piute | 284 | 42.97% | 344 | 52.04% | 33 | 4.99% | 0 | 0.00% | -60 | -9.08% | 661 |
| Rich | 392 | 48.51% | 407 | 50.37% | 7 | 0.87% | 2 | 0.25% | -15 | -1.86% | 808 |
| Salt Lake | 134,442 | 56.48% | 100,346 | 42.16% | 1,654 | 0.69% | 1,593 | 0.67% | 34,096 | 14.32% | 238,035 |
| San Juan | 1,434 | 46.24% | 1,592 | 51.34% | 63 | 2.03% | 12 | 0.39% | -158 | -5.10% | 3,101 |
| Sanpete | 2,650 | 44.81% | 3,070 | 51.91% | 163 | 2.76% | 31 | 0.52% | -420 | -7.10% | 5,914 |
| Sevier | 2,307 | 41.01% | 2,773 | 49.29% | 510 | 9.07% | 36 | 0.64% | -466 | -8.28% | 5,626 |
| Summit | 1,997 | 53.81% | 1,638 | 44.14% | 57 | 1.54% | 19 | 0.51% | 359 | 9.67% | 3,711 |
| Tooele | 5,596 | 61.09% | 3,432 | 37.47% | 61 | 0.67% | 71 | 0.78% | 2,164 | 23.62% | 9,160 |
| Uintah | 2,204 | 38.01% | 3,334 | 57.49% | 211 | 3.64% | 50 | 0.86% | -1,130 | -19.49% | 5,799 |
| Utah | 29,693 | 41.94% | 39,422 | 55.68% | 1,244 | 1.76% | 439 | 0.62% | -9,729 | -13.74% | 70,798 |
| Wasatch | 1,507 | 48.12% | 1,582 | 50.51% | 27 | 0.86% | 16 | 0.51% | -75 | -2.39% | 3,132 |
| Washington | 3,335 | 38.79% | 4,972 | 57.83% | 227 | 2.64% | 64 | 0.74% | -1,637 | -19.04% | 8,598 |
| Wayne | 392 | 42.06% | 430 | 46.14% | 106 | 11.37% | 4 | 0.43% | -38 | -4.08% | 932 |
| Weber | 33,686 | 56.53% | 25,050 | 42.04% | 520 | 0.87% | 330 | 0.55% | 8,636 | 14.49% | 59,586 |
| Total | 280,706 | 52.02% | 248,027 | 45.96% | 7,201 | 1.33% | 3,715 | 0.69% | 32,679 | 6.06% | 539,649 |
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Box Elder
- Cache
- Davis
- Duchesne
- Garfield
- Kane
- Millard
- Morgan
- Piute
- Rich
- San Juan
- Sanpete
- Sevier
- Utah
- Wasatch
- Washington
- Wayne
References
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- ^ a b Scammon, Richard M.; McGillivray, Alice V., eds. (1977). America Votes 12: A Handbook of Contemporary American Election Statistics. Washington D. C.: Congressional Quarterly. p. 368. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ^ a b "Abstract of the returns of the general election held in the State of Utah - November 2, 1976" (PDF). Retrieved December 29, 2025.
