Free Republic

Utah governor critical of GOP Jon Huntsman, the Republican governor of the ruby-red state of Utah, stopped by Politico HQ this afternoon with some tough criticism of his own party. Huntsman is in Washington this week in his role as chairman of the Western Governors' Association to promote the group’s bipartisan energy policy. Huntsman and the WGA’s vice-chairman, Montana governor Brian Schweitzer (D), are discussing their proposal with President-elect Obama's transition team tomorrow. Huntsman has been one of the leading Republican voices on dealing with climate change, and he was blunt in criticizing elements of his party for ignoring the...

Utah's governor signed a bill on Monday that would require Internet providers to block Web sites deemed pornographic and could also target e-mail providers and search engines.The controversial legislation will create an official list of Web sites with publicly available material deemed "harmful to minors." Internet providers in Utah must provide their customers with a way to disable access to sites on the list or face felony charges. Technology firms had urged Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman not to sign the bill (click for PDF), saying it was constitutionally suspect and worded so vaguely its full impact is still unclear. The...

Huntsman wins: Lopsided results not a surprise By Bob Bernick Jr. and Jerry D. Spangler Deseret Morning News Jon Huntsman Jr., Rep. Chris Cannon and John Swallow have survived to campaign another day. In Tuesday's primary elections, Huntsman thumped GOP challenger Nolan Karras by about 65-35 percent, unofficial and incomplete election results showed. Karras conceded before 10 p.m., saying: "I congratulate Jon and offer him my support. I hope we have restored civility to politics" by the issue-oriented, high-road tenor of the GOP gubernatorial debate. "You didn't see the rhetoric (in the governor's race) you saw in some others. We...