His performance as State Auditor led Utah House of Representatives Speaker Norm Bangerter to say that he "audit[ed] like a junkyard dog.
Bangerter and Oveson won the Republican primary in August 1984, overcoming the wealthy Congressman Dan Marriott's well-funded campaign, which was backed by party leaders.
[3] Next, in the general election, Bangerter and Oveson defeated the Democratic tandem of former Congressman Wayne Owens and Dale Carpenter, then the director of the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
[4] Soon after his second term expired, Oveson was appointed Chairman of the Utah State Tax Commission in 1993 by Governor Mike Leavitt.
In 2004, during his tenure as state CIO, Oveson was named one of the Public Officials of the Year by Governing Magazine for his work in eGovernment.