Utah Republican who cried foul about primary election allies himself with Democrat to defeat Cox

Two gubernatorial challengers to Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) formed an alliance in a bid to unseat the popular incumbent Utahn.

Utah state Reps. Phil Lyman and Brian King are on opposite sides of the aisle. They are even competitors in a bid to knock Cox out of office. But in a new campaign pitch, they teamed up to tell voters there is one thing they agree on.

“Spencer Cox should not be our next governor,” the two proclaimed in unison during a 30-second ad released Wednesday.

The video is a play on a 2020 ad Cox and his Democratic opponent, Chris Peterson, collaborated on. Four years ago, the two gubernatorial competitors starred in a video pledging to accept the results of the election, no matter the winner.

As a Democratic candidate seeking to unseat Cox, King faces an uphill battle to win over Utah voters. The new ad, paid for by his campaign, indicates he is serious about taking help wherever he can find it to clinch the governor's seat this November.

Cox enjoys widespread support in Utah. He secured the governor’s race in 2020 by 33 points and holds 81% of support among GOP voters.

Although Lyman and Cox are Republican colleagues, the two share a fractured history.

The Republican state representative made his own bid to unseat Cox earlier this year, launching a primary challenge against the governor. Lyman lost the race against Cox by roughly 16 points but filed a petition on Aug. 2, contesting the election.

Lyman argued that in line with internal party rules, he should be the Republican gubernatorial nominee because he had secured more than 60% of support at the state’s nominating convention. The Utah Supreme Court rejected Lyman’s case on Tuesday.

But Lyman hasn’t given up his bid for governor. He recently launched a write-in campaign that is now unaffiliated and unsupported by the state Republican Party.

The Utah GOP is none too happy with Lyman’s attempts to unseat Cox nor with his decision to align himself with King.

“We condemn Phil Lyman’s endorsement and promotion of Brian King, which will only benefit Democrat candidates whose extreme policies are out of step with Utahns,” Utah GOP Chairman Rob Axson stated on X. “Not-so-clever clickbait videos attempting to divide Republicans against each other only serve to remind us what is at stake; Utahns must not fall for it.”

Lyman defended his partnership with King, telling the Salt Lake Tribune that while he doesn’t agree with the Democrat on everything, “I’ve sat beside him in the House for years and have seen his unwavering commitment to his principles and the causes he believes in.”

This isn't the only GOP election ruffling feathers in Utah. Republican Colby Jenkins mounted a thrilling primary challenge to Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT). In a nail-biter race that ended in a recount, Maloy led her challenger by a razor-thin margin. Just 176 votes short of a victory, Jenkins appealed to the Utah Supreme Court, arguing that 1,171 ballots disqualified because of late postmarking should be counted.

Hundreds of ballots cast by Utah Republicans were routed to Las Vegas, Nevada, for processing, leading to postal delays that pushed them past the deadline to be counted.

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On Tuesday, the state's high court ruled against Jenkins.

"Voters who wish to take advantage of mail-in voting can ensure that their ballots are timely postmarked by mailing them well in advance of the election deadline or by taking their ballots to the post office and asking for them to be postmarked," Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Matthew Durrant wrote.