The Jon Huntsman presidential campaign of 2012 began in mid-2011 when Ambassador and former Governor of Utah Jon Huntsman, Jr. announced his candidacy for the Republican Party (GOP) nomination for President of the United States in the 2012 election. On May 3, 2011, Huntsman announced his intentions to file a political action committee with the Federal Election Commission (named "H-PAC"). Subsequently, Huntsman announced on June 14, 2011, he was running for president and made an official announcement in Liberty State Park one week later on June 21.
Huntsman sought to establish himself as an anti-negative candidate and take the "high road". In his announcement, he also stated "I don't think you need to run down someone's reputation in order to run for the office of President." Huntsman aggressively touted himself as a fiscal conservative, pledging considerable business and personal tax cuts as well as a foreign policy moderate, calling for a decrease in defense spending and withdrawal from Afghanistan, while increasing pressure on Iran and support for Israel.
Huntsman announced his withdrawal from the race on January 16, 2012, prior to the South Carolina primary and endorsed eventual nominee Mitt Romney.
Background
Experience
Huntsman served as Governor of Utah from January 2005 until August 2009, but resigned during the first year of his second term to serve as United States Ambassador to China, a position to which he was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama. Speculation of a Huntsman candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination began circulating in the media as early as 2008 and 2009, while Huntsman was still unsure about his political future.Cheney says GOP presidential bench still strong , CNN (June 29, 2009), "The Fix" blog, December 9, 2008, Washington Post In August 2010, a group of political strategists with ties to Huntsman formed a political action committee now called "Horizon PAC" that had the resources to provide a framework for launching Huntsman's campaign in the event he chose to run. The PAC was formed in part as an effort to draft Huntsman into seeking the GOP nomination.
On January 31, 2011, Huntsman submitted his formal resignation from his post as U.S. Ambassador to China. The resignation was to take effect April 30, 2011, and Huntsman indicated his plans to return to the United States by May 2011. This move spurred further widespread speculation of Huntsman making a 2012 Republican presidential bid.
On May 3, after having left his post as Ambassador and returned to the United States, Huntsman formed an official fundraising political action committee, building on the efforts of the previously established Horizon PAC. On May 18, Huntsman opened his 2012 national campaign headquarters in Orlando, Florida.
Political positions
Huntsman has been described as "a conservative technocrat-optimist with moderate positions who was willing to work substantively with President Barack Obama" by Huffington Post political reporter, Jason Linkins.Linkins, Jason (February 11, 2011) Jon Huntsman Staff Choice Suggests The Direction His Campaign Will Take, Huffington Post As Governor, Huntsman listed economic development, health-care reform, education, and energy security as his top priorities. Huntsman oversaw large tax cuts and advocated reorganizing the way that services were distributed so that the government would not become overwhelmed by the state's fast growing population. Huntsman also proposed a plan to reform health-care, mainly through the private sector, by using tax breaks and negotiation to keep prices down.Parker, Kathleen (July 26, 2009) ,Washington Post
In a 2008 evaluation of state Governors' fiscal policies, the libertarian Cato Institute praised Huntsman's conservative tax policies, ranking him in a tie for fifth place on overall fiscal policy. He was particularly lauded for his efforts to cut taxes, where he received the highest score on tax policy of all 50 governors. The report specifically highlighted his reductions of the sales tax and simplification of the tax code.
Huntsman strongly supported civil unions for years but not same-sex marriage;Huntsman's civil-union stance may prove political liability, Robert Gehrke, Salt Lake Tribune, May 11, 2010 and supported legislation as Governor that would have allowed civil unions for same-sex couples in the state. In 2007, in response to the problem of global warming, Huntsman signed the Western Climate Initiative, by which Utah joined with other governments in agreeing to pursue targets for reduced production of greenhouse gases. He also appeared in an advertisement sponsored by Environmental Defense, in which he said, "Now it's time for Congress to act by capping greenhouse-gas pollution."
On foreign policy, Huntsman has repeatedly stated: "We need to continue working closely with China to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program." He has also named Taiwan, human rights, and Tibet among the "areas where we have differences with China" and vowed "robust engagement" on human rights.
On August 31, Huntsman made a major policy announcement, calling for, amongst other things such as more aggressive action on completing free trade agreements, a tax policy modeled on the Simpson-Bowles plan, specifically: elimination of the Alternative Minimum Tax, elimination of taxes on capital gains and dividends, elimination of all deductions and credits, in favor of significantly lower general rates, with brackets of 8, 14 and 23 percent, and lowering the general corporate rate from 35 to 25%.Andrew Malcolm, Gov. Jon Huntsman's jobs plan: 'Straightforward and common sense' Los Angeles Times September 1, 2011
Campaign details
Speculation
On November 12, 2008, Politico called him a possible 2012 contender. Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza also speculated Huntsman as a possible candidate.
Many Republicans saw Huntsman as a possible rising star in the party. Utah businessman and Republican activist Tim Bridgewater said, "Huntsman has a very bright future". Huntsman said, "I think there will be a lot of personalities emerging between now and 2012. I think the party needs to be smart enough to maintain an open mind. Obama was nowhere on the radar screen four years ago". In June 2009, Huntsman top advisor John Weaver, who was also an advisor for McCain, stated, "I firmly believe that Huntsman and people like him are the prescription for what ails us. But I have the feeling that our party maybe won't order that prescription in 2012."
In January 2011, Newsweek published an article entitled "The Manchurian Candidate" which featured an interview with Huntsman. When asked whether he intended to run for president in 2012, Huntsman declined to comment. The article generated significant speculation about a likely Huntsman 2012 presidential bid.
Announcement Huntsman announced his campaign on June 21, 2011, in Liberty State Park, with the Statue of Liberty visible behind him while delivering his speech. The location was chosen in homage to President Ronald Reagan, who launched his own presidential campaign from the same location. Referring to Reagan's announcement, Huntsman remarked in his own speech, "He assured us we could 'make America great again,' and under his leadership we did. I stand in his shadow as well as the shadow of this magnificent monument to our liberty."
In the lead-up to his official announcement, Huntsman gained attention for his campaign's unconventional TV ads, produced by veteran GOP strategist Fred Davis III, featuring a lone motocross rider traveling through rugged terrain as music plays in the background, while facts about Huntsman appear on the screen. The ads were widely parodied, including by the Utah Democratic Party and Rick Santorum's campaign.
A notable gaffe made by the Huntsman campaign in the moments before the announcement speech were misspelled press passes distributed to reporters on hand to cover the announcement which read "John Huntsman for President", erroneously adding an extra "H" to Huntsman's name. Aides reportedly scrambled in an effort to cease the distribution of the misspelled passes.
Staff Susie Wiles, who ran Rick Scott's successful 2010 gubernatorial campaign in Florida, worked first as executive director of H-PAC and then as Huntsman's campaign manager. Her appointment dovetailed with Huntsman's strategic emphasis on winning the early Florida primary. She resigned on July 21, 2011, stating, "I signed up to get it started. It's like a phase. This morning I said it's time to move on." She went on to explain that she had never intended to stay on with the campaign indefinitely, but instead had plans "to resume [her] life and get home." Wiles stated her intention to continue to be a "friend and confidante of Huntsman." Matt David, previously the campaign's communications director, replaced Wiles as campaign manager.
The campaign hired Neil Ashdown, chief of staff to Huntsman when he was Governor of Utah and Ambassador to China, as deputy campaign manager. Conyers Davis, who worked with former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and David Cameron's Conservative Party was hired as campaign operations director. Matt David served as the campaign's first communications director, before replacing Wiles as campaign manager, with Jake Suski as deputy communications director and Tim Miller serving as Huntsman's spokesperson. Kris Anderson is leading research for the campaign, with Shawn Reinschmiedt and Dan Comstock's M Street Insight doing research consulting work.
In June 2011, C. Boyden Gray joined the Huntsman team as policy chair. Gray served as White House Counsel to President George H. W. Bush and EU Ambassador under George W. Bush. In early July 2011, Mark McIntosh was appointed as the Huntsman campaign's policy director. McIntosh had been working as counsel on energy and natural resource issues at Boyden Gray & Associates, and he previously served as Deputy General Counsel for the White House Council on Environmental Quality under President George W. Bush. Randy Schriver and Steve Bogden served as Huntsman's respective chief foreign policy and economic advisors.
Fundraising A day after announcing his campaign for president, Huntsman raised $1.2 million, and approximately $4.1 million in the first weeks of his candidacy. Huntsman, who has a speculated net-worth between $11 and $74 million, was reported to have contributed "less than half" of his campaign's $4.1 million haul. Before his entry into the race, Huntsman was adamant about avoiding self-financing a campaign, stating "Unless you can raise it legitimately, you're not going to win". However, Huntsman stated he would contribute in order to "prime the pump" during a campaign visit in South Carolina. In September, Huntsman reportedly contributed $500,000 to his campaign in order to make payroll. One of Huntsman's greatest contributors was his father Jon Huntsman, Sr., who donated around $2 million to his campaign. Walmart heirs Jim Walton and Christy Walton donated $102,500 and $52,500 to Huntsman, respectively.
With no obligation to do so due to his late entry into the race, the Huntsman Campaign agreed not to file FEC paperwork for the Second Quarter of 2011 ending on June 30, 2011, as reported by the ABC.
2011 developments
Twitter remark and political positioning
Huntsman gained media attention when he responded to Texas Governor Rick Perry's entrance into the GOP primary by attacking Perry's views on climate change and evolution through Twitter. Huntsman's tweet was reportedly "re-tweeted" over 3,600 times – the most of any GOP presidential candidate.
Huntsman was scheduled to speak at the Republican Leadership Conference held in New Orleans in June 2011, but canceled. He received 25% of the vote in the annual presidential straw-poll, finishing second behind Ron Paul (41%) and ahead of Michele Bachmann (13%).