1976 Utah gubernatorial election

none related races 1976 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 September 2023 1976 Utah gubernatorial election Utah 1922 Presidential no 1972 Utah gubernatorial election 1972 1980 Utah gubernatorial election 1980 November 2, 1976 File:Scott Matheson speaking at the commissioning ceremony of the USS Salt Lake City, May 12, 1984 (cropped).JPEG 150x150px Scott M. Matheson Democratic Party (United States) 280,706 52.02% File:Vernon B. Romney, Utah Attorney General, 1969-1977 (cropped).jpg Vernon B. Romney Republican Party (United States) 248,027 45.96% 1976 Utah gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 230px County resultsMatheson: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% Romney: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% Governor Cal Rampton Democratic Party (United States) Scott M. Matheson Democratic Party (United States) 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 Democratic primary resultsScammon Richard M. McGillivray Alice V. America Votes 12: A Handbook of Contemporary American Election Statistics 1977 Congressional Quarterly Washington D. C. 368 https://archive.org/details/americavotes12ha00scam/page/n3/mode/2up 31 December 2025 Scott M. Matheson Democratic Party (United States) 50,505 58.96% John P. Creer Democratic Party (United States) 35,154 41.04% 85,659 100.00% Republican primary Candidates Dixie L. Leavitt, member of Utah State Senate Vernon B. Romney, Attorney General of Utah Results Republican primary results Vernon B. Romney Republican Party (United States) 87,251 53.40% Dixie L. Leavitt Republican Party (United States) 76,139 46.60% 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 1976 Utah gubernatorial electionAbstract of the returns of the general election held in the State of Utah - November 2, 1976 https://vote.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1976Gen.pdf 29 December 2025 Democratic Party (United States) Scott M. Matheson 280,706 52.02% -17.67% Republican Party (United States) Vernon B. Romney 248,027 45.96% +15.64% American Party (1969) L. S. Brown 7,201 1.33% #800080 Concerned Citizens Betty Bates 3,715 0.69% 539,649 100.00% 32,679 6.06% Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) -33.31% Results by county County Scott M. MathesonDemocratic Vernon B. RomneyRepublican L. S. BrownAmerican Betty BatesConcerned Citizens Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % # %Beaver1,27061.83%76037.00%160.78%80.39%51024.83%2,054Box Elder5,68142.19%7,24153.78%4653.45%780.58%-1,560-11.59%13,465Cache9,52841.29%12,71355.10%6032.61%2301.00%-3,185-13.80%23,074Carbon6,60176.41%1,97122.82%400.46%270.31%4,63053.59%8,639Daggett18551.82%16445.94%51.40%30.84%215.88%357Davis22,42047.58%23,61850.12%5641.20%5221.11%-1,198-2.54%47,124Duchesne1,87447.28%1,94148.97%1243.13%250.63%-67-1.69%3,964Emery2,18060.25%1,34837.26%721.99%180.50%83223.00%3,618Garfield77443.95%92052.24%563.18%110.62%-146-8.29%1,761Grand1,65359.01%1,10039.27%230.82%250.89%55319.74%2,801Iron3,87856.95%2,78740.93%1171.72%280.41%1,09116.02%6,810Juab1,28551.28%1,17246.77%281.12%210.84%1134.51%2,506Kane66344.23%78952.64%412.74%60.40%-126-8.41%1,499Millard1,74644.27%2,04651.88%1193.02%330.84%-300-7.61%3,944Morgan1,04948.30%1,06549.03%452.07%130.60%-16-0.74%2,172Piute28442.97%34452.04%334.99%00.00%-60-9.08%661Rich39248.51%40750.37%70.87%20.25%-15-1.86%808Salt Lake134,44256.48%100,34642.16%1,6540.69%1,5930.67%34,09614.32%238,035San Juan1,43446.24%1,59251.34%632.03%120.39%-158-5.10%3,101Sanpete2,65044.81%3,07051.91%1632.76%310.52%-420-7.10%5,914Sevier2,30741.01%2,77349.29%5109.07%360.64%-466-8.28%5,626Summit1,99753.81%1,63844.14%571.54%190.51%3599.67%3,711Tooele5,59661.09%3,43237.47%610.67%710.78%2,16423.62%9,160Uintah2,20438.01%3,33457.49%2113.64%500.86%-1,130-19.49%5,799Utah29,69341.94%39,42255.68%1,2441.76%4390.62%-9,729-13.74%70,798Wasatch1,50748.12%1,58250.51%270.86%160.51%-75-2.39%3,132Washington3,33538.79%4,97257.83%2272.64%640.74%-1,637-19.04%8,598Wayne39242.06%43046.14%10611.37%40.43%-38-4.08%932Weber33,68656.53%25,05042.04%5200.87%3300.55%8,63614.49%59,586Total280,70652.02%248,02745.96%7,2011.33%3,7150.69%32,6796.06%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 Utah Politics 1976 Utah Gubernatorial