Jon Huntsman, the former Utah governor known for a moderate stance on LGBT rights, may resign his position as U.S. ambassador to China early this year to explore a run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
As governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009, Huntsman supported civil unions and protections against workplace and housing discrimination. However, he supported a state constitutional amendment against marriage equality and other same-sex relationship recognition in 2004.
According to Politico, "There's no Republican circling the race with such powerful strengths and so many potentially disqualifying weakness as the 50-year-old scion of one of Utah's most prominent Mormon families."
Huntsman brings campaign advantages including a personal fortune to spend and serious foreign policy and trade credentials. He speaks Mandarin Chinese and served as ambassador to Singapore under President George H.W. Bush.
"Yet Huntsman also has a history of taking moderate positions on the environment, immigration and gay rights," reports Politico. "He's publicly dismissed the importance of Republicans on Capitol Hill. And the Mormon faith he shares with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney could hamper Huntsman with religious conservatives, much as it did Romney in 2008."
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