Jon Huntsman says he will not run as a write-in candidate

SALT LAKE CITY — Former Utah Governor and ambassador to China and Russia Jon Huntsman Jr. says he will not run as a write-in candidate in Utah’s November election. 

The announcement comes after a number of Huntsman supporters began exploring the options of starting a write-in campaign in the governor’s race after losing that Republican primary to current Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox.

“It wasn’t until the election ended that we were getting calls from friends and supporters from Hughes’ campaign and Wright’s campaign contacting us saying, ‘Wait we don’t get it. Was that really the end. that’s it? Cox got roughly 35% of the Republican party vote and that’s it?'”

She says that while they don’t dispute the results, she thinks the primary could have gone differently if more people understood the process. 

“A lot of people just feel unheard,” she continued.

Williams also said the write-in effort was a completely grassroots movement and that neither she nor anyone from their group had spoken with the Huntsman family. 

Huntsman’s daughter, Abby, told the Deseret News her father “has always had respect for the primary process.”

Hear the full interview with Alecia Williams below.

Follow @walk_colb