Gary R. Herbert was sworn in Tuesday as Utah’s 17th governor, and with nine months until the state Republican Party convention, he must work quickly to convince delegates he should be their nominee next year.

Utah election law specifies that Herbert must run in a special contest in 2010 to fill out the remainder of former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. ’s term. If he wins, Herbert will have to run again in 2012.

Huntsman was confirmed by the Senate Aug. 7 to be U.S. ambassador to China. Herbert, who has served as lieutenant governor, took the oath of office at the state capital about an hour after the Huntsman’s resignation.

Currently, there are no other announced candidates for the slot in either party. But even in a GOP-dominated state which tends to retain politicians in office, open seats can lead to crowded races.

“The clock is ticking because it takes time to get a statewide campaign together,” said Quin Monson, associate director of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University.

Some high-profile Republican names are being tossed around, including two state senators, John Valentine and Steve Urquhart, House Speaker David Clark, and Kirk Jowers, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. Jowers said he could make a decision by Labor Day.

On the Democratic side, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon would be the party’s best hope if he decides to run.

It appears Herbert has his work cut out to impress delegates and voters and do it quickly.

The Deseret Morning News reported on Aug. 7 that in an August 3-5 poll, only 39 percent would vote for Herbert if he is the GOP nominee, while 42 percent said their decision on voting for Herbert would be based on who the other candidates are — or that they didn’t know yet how they’d vote.

Herbert is a conservative on most issues and has strayed from Huntsman’s moderate stance on two key issues: civil unions and climate change.

“If he is as fiscally conservative as governor as he was as a county commissioner, his opposition will fade away,” said Utah County Commissioner Steve White, who served with Herbert for two years.

Herbert did make a gesture to the party’s moderate wing by picking state Sen. Greg Bell to be lieutenant governor.

Paul Mero, president of the conservative Salt Lake City think tank The Sutherland Institute, told the Salt Lake Tribune recently that “selecting a “moderate to liberal lieutenant governor” ensures “you won’t see Gary Herbert longer than 2010. That’s a reality. He just won’t make it through the [Republican] convention.”