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An old adage holds that a one-vote victory becomes a landslide
in the eyes of a politician. And Utah has had its share of
landslides and whisper-thin margins of victory.
The largest margin of victory in a statewide election in
Utah came in 1996, when Governor Michael Leavitt was re-elected
with seventy-five percent of the vote. The largest margin
of victory in a Utah presidential vote was secured by Ronald
Reagan. . .who swept the state in 1984 with seventy-four percent
of the vote.
But the honor for closest statewide election goes to the
1944 race for governor, when
Herbert Maw defeated J. Bracken Lee. That year, two hundred
and fifty thousand votes were cast, and the winning margin
was just one thousand votes -- four-tenths of one percent,
or roughly one voter per precinct in Utah.
Landslide or dead-heat, in this election year, remember
that your vote can make a difference.
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In
1997, Governor Michael Leavitt (pictured, with wife Jacqueline)
took office after the largest margin of victory in a statewide
election. Utah State Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Zimmerman
administered the oath.