Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- You can cross another big name off the list of candidates for governor of Utah next year. Salt Lake Chamber President Lane Beattie confirmed to KSL Newsradio Thursday morning that he will not run.
Wednesday, Beattie met with Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert. Herbert himself is poised to become governor within days or weeks, upon current Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s confirmation as U.S. ambassador to China.
Beattie spoke of the meeting on the Doug Wright Show Thursday. "When it was all said and done, I've decided I'm not going to run for governor in 2010 and I think Gary deserves that," he said.
Beattie was long rumored to be a candidate for the 2010 election, which would be necessary assuming Herbert takes over soon.
"There were no deals cut. He didn't call me and say ‘hey Lane, if you do this, I'll do that'. That wasn't the case at all," Beattie insisted.
Beattie's dropout comes the day after Rep. Jim Matheson announced he would run for re-election next year. Matheson was a rumored candidate for governor or senator.
E-mail: athomas@ksl.com
