This probably wasn’t on anyone’s 2024 political bingo card.
Democrat Brian King has teamed up with a fellow gubernatorial hopeful, Rep. Phil Lyman, who is running a write-in campaign after losing the Republican primary, to tell voters not to reelect Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
King has been a solid liberal vote in the Utah House throughout his career. Lyman ranks among the most conservative members of the Legislature.
This week, the Utah Supreme Court tossed out Lyman’s attempt to overturn the GOP primary and have Cox thrown out of office and off the ballot. The lawmaker announced his write-in bid, saying he would prefer King win rather than Cox.
The ad opens by highlighting issues on which King and Lyman oppose each other with a not-so-subtle jab (and a wink from the Democrat) at Cox’s “disagree better” mantra.
“But the biggest thing the two of us agree on,” Lyman says before King and Lyman proclaim in unison, “is that Spencer Cox should not be our next governor.”
“So let’s try something different this year,” Lyman says. “Write in Phil Lyman …”
“Phil,” King cuts in, “C’mon.”
“Sorry, Brian,” Lyman says.
“Vote Brian King for governor,” King says, before they both conclude with King’s campaign slogan: “For the better.”
The 30-second spot mimics an ad filmed four years ago that featured Cox and his opponent at the time, Democrat Chris Peterson, in which they too acknowledged their differences but agreed that Utahns should respect the outcome of their 2020 election, regardless who won.
Cox did.
How politicos are reacting
The reaction Thursday to the King-Lyman ad was mixed, ranging from support to confusion to a condemnation from the Utah Republican Party chair.
“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,” GOP chair Rob Axson stated on X, formerly called Twitter. “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.”
Peterson, the former Democratic candidate whose ad was lampooned, said he still believes “that civility and respect for the outcome of democratic elections is critical for all of us. It seems to me the Republican Party is struggling right now to live up to these two core values at both the national and state level.”
“While I like and respect Governor Cox, Representative King would be a breath of fresh air and has my full support,” Peterson said. “Representative Lyman seems unstable and a bit out of touch with reality.”
Jeff Merchant, executive director of the progressive Alliance for a Better Utah, said he is a friend of King and “I’m just really surprised Brian did it.”
Merchant said that, while Cox has disappointed many groups and he is hard to pin down on issues, “I do think he respects the electoral process, he supports and defends our election officials and people engaging in the voting process and those are things I don’t feel like I would trust Phil Lyman on.”
Lyman repeatedly has attacked mail-in voting, the signature-gathering path to the primary ballot that Cox took, the honesty of election officials and filed two lawsuits, including his now-dismissed case before the Supreme Court. (He has since withdrawn from the other suit.)
“It’s definitely not a partnership I would have made, I don’t think,” Merchant said, “but I see where Brian is going.”
Cox campaign fires back
Cox’s campaign responded with a statement criticizing King for having “California-style policy positions.”
“Brian King is ranked every year as one of the most liberal members of the Utah Legislature,” said campaign spokesperson Matt Lusty. “He has sponsored bills to dramatically increase taxes and limit the Second Amendment rights of Utah citizens. Losing is hard, but encouraging others to elect someone who believes in a [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom-style of government is the wrong solution for Utah.”
Dan Hemmert, a former state senator who served in Cox’s administration, said the ad “is too crazy.”
“Extreme far left and extreme far right meet because King can’t win and Lyman is a sore loser,” he wrote on X. “It’s like their campaign teams were drinking shots together and … we got bizzaro world.”
Democratic National Committeewoman Darlene McDonald posted that she “worried that Brian King would do one of those disastrous commercials with Cox that was done a few years ago.”
“I LOVE THIS!” she wrote. “[King] is what Utahns claim they are. It is time to vote for the better, Utah. Brian King IS better for Utah.”
What King and Lyman are saying
King said in a statement that his campaign is building a coalition of Democrats, Republicans and independents who are looking for a change — noting a recent poll that said 60% of Utahns believe the state is on the wrong track.
“Unfortunately, the Spencer Cox who has been in the governor’s office for the last four years is not the Spencer Cox who was elected in 2020,” King said. “Regardless of which side of the aisle you are on, Cox has proven that he is unreliable, unprincipled and untrustworthy. On this, Phil and I agree.”
On Thursday, Lyman said that Cox has flip-flopped on key issues and that the state needs a leader with “unshakable character.”
“While Representative King and I may not see eye to eye on everything,” Lyman said in a statement, “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.”
According to the legally required disclaimer on the ad, it was King’s campaign — not Lyman’s — that paid for the 30-second spot.
