Spencer Cox defeated Phil Lyman for the Republican nomination for governor of Utah, becoming the nation’s most surprising primary challenger.
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Gov. Spencer Cox applauds after signing two bills to regulate social media during a ceremony at the State Capitol in Salt Lake City, Thursday, March 23, 2023. Gov. Cox signed two bills aimed at restricting when and where children can use social media and preventing companies from luring children to such sites. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via The Associated Press)
Lyman, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, challenged Cox in the primary despite the incumbent’s popularity in the state, and many conservative members of the state party were disillusioned with the governor’s veto of conservative legislation and vague support for the former president.
Lyman was pardoned by President Trump in 2020 after being convicted of a misdemeanor related to protesting the federal government’s closure of Recapture Canyon to unload vehicles, and has promised a series of reforms, including tax cuts, education reform and immigration reform.
Cox, meanwhile, continues to enjoy healthy support across the state, with recent polls showing the incumbent leading by nearly 40 points ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Phil Lyman (Utah House of Representatives)
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The governor, who represents the party’s moderate wing, further angered the state’s Republican delegates by gathering the 28,000 signatures needed to get on the ballot without relying on the convention process — a tactic also used by former Gov. Gary Herbert to manage the state’s more conservative grassroots campaign, who handily won the nomination and general election that year.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Cox will face off against Democratic state Rep. Brian King in the November general election, but King secured his party’s nomination for the state’s top post in April.
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A Republican has served as governor in Utah every year since 1985, and King will face an uphill battle in a state that is reliably Republican.
