Spencer Cox wins Utah Republican primary for Governor

Spencer Cox emerged with the victory in the battle for the GOP nomination in Utah’s governor’s race, besting Phil Lyman in one of the more surprising primary challenges in the country.

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Gov. Spencer Cox applauds after signing two social media regulation bills during a ceremony at the Capitol building in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 23, 2023. Cox signed a pair of measures that aim to limit when and where children can use social media and stop companies from luring kids to the sites. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)

Lyman, a loyal supporter of former President Donald Trump’s, mounted the primary challenge against Cox despite the incumbent’s popularity in the state, with many conservative members of the state party becoming disillusioned with the governor’s vetoes of conservative legislation and noncommittal support for the former president.

Lyman, who was pardoned by Trump in 2020 after a misdemeanor conviction related to protesting the federal closure of the Recapture Canyon to offload vehicles, has promised a slew of reforms including tax cuts, education reforms, and immigration reforms.

Cox, meanwhile, continued to enjoy healthy popular support throughout the state, with recent polls showing a nearly 40 point lead for the incumbent ahead of Tuesday’s election.

Phil Lyman (Utah House of Representatives) 

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The current governor, who represents the party’s more moderate flank, further angered the states GOP delegates by gathering the 28,000 signatures necessary to be on the ballot instead of relying on the convention process, a tactic also used by former Gov. Gary Herbert to also work around the state’s more conservative grassroots. Herbert went on to easily win the nomination and general election that year.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Cox will now face off with Democratic State Rep. Brian King in November’s general election, with King securing his party’s nomination for the top state post in April.

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King faces an uphill battle in reliably red Utah, with a Republican holding the governor’s office in the state every year since 1985.