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Jonathan Johnson calls it the "worst-kept secret in the state" ­­— for months the chairman of Overstock.com has been laying the groundwork for a challenge to Gov. Gary Herbert, which likely will become an actual bid sometime in the late summer or early fall.

For now, Johnson has been out speaking to groups, building up name recognition and making contacts around the state that will help him when he becomes a candidate. And he has lined up an experienced campaign team-in-waiting, led by Dave Hansen, a veteran of the Sen. Orrin Hatch and U.S. Rep. Mia Love campaigns.

"I haven't officially announced, but my mind hasn't changed and I continue to work on it," Johnson said in an interview Tuesday. "I'm waiting for the right time. I think it'll be sooner rather than later."

Knocking off Herbert will not be easy: Polls have consistently put his approval rating in the mid to high 70s, he has the bully pulpit and broad name recognition, not to mention more than $1.3 million sitting in his political account.

"We're not surprised to hear that there is someone considering a challenge for the nomination, but we feel very good about where the governor is positioned right now," said the governor's campaign spokesman, Marty Carpenter. Utah's economy has consistently been among the fastest-growing in the nation and the governor and Legislature have significantly increased education funding in recent years.

"The governor firmly believes the best way to campaign is to govern well and he certainly has an unsurpassed record of governing well during his term as governor," Carpenter said.

But Johnson says he believes he has the skillset and the philosophy to be Utah's next governor.

Over the last several years, Johnson has had his hand in several movements near and dear to the rock-ribbed Utah conservative Republicans, going back to the school-voucher movement, a push to defang unions in the state, and more recently a push to teach civics in schools.

And it's his activism — along with his background in the business world — that Johnson said is part of his selling point.

Herbert, Johnson said, hasn't led the way when it comes to the issue of the state taking over management of public lands, and has failed to take charge of reforming Utah's education system, while turning over control of what is taught in Utah schools to the federal bureaucracy.

"I think Governor Herbert has given a lot of lip service and really hasn't done much [on public lands]," Johnson said, noting that the Legislature has given the governor tools for the state to assert management of the lands, but Herbert has not used them.

"The governor has to be the tip of the spear on that issue," Johnson said. "The Legislature can give him all the tools, but unless he's willing to say, 'I'm going to be the tip of the spear and I'm willing to bring my other Western governors along so we have real negotiating power,' then it's not going to be anything more than lip service."

That could mean filing lawsuits, Johnson said, to assert state control of federal lands or at least claiming the state authority to cut trees out of overgrown national forests to protect watersheds.

On education, Johnson is pitching broad reform that includes school choice — including potentially vouchers and educational-savings accounts — as well as more localized decision-making, to the point of giving parents and principals the authority to fire bad teachers.

He said he would like to see more collaboration between traditional public schools and charter and private schools that face the same issues, allowing them to share best practices for focusing on math, arts, and serving at-risk students.

"And I don't like Common Core," Johnson said of the polarizing education standards crafted by the National Governors Association and adopted by the federal government. Utah has adopted the standards for math and English.

"I don't like a federal standard that is delivered through the NGA, which is really, I think, a left-of-center, staff-driven group, and I don't like the other things the NGA is doing," Johnson said.

Herbert was installed as NGA chairman July 25.

gehrke@sltrib.com Twitter: @RobertGehrke