Phil Lyman, the failed Republican write-in candidate in last year’s gubernatorial election, won’t be replacing Gov. Spencer Cox in the Utah Capitol anytime soon.
The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear Lyman’s long-shot appeal to disqualify Cox from the 2024 election, the nation’s high court announced Monday morning.
Lyman’s lawsuit was on a list of “certiorari denied” cases the court released Monday, meaning the justices refused to accept the case and the Utah Supreme Court’s decision not to remove Cox from the 2024 primary ballot will remain.
“We are moving to the next step,” Lyman told The Salt Lake Tribune in a text message later Monday morning, adding he was looking to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider.
A spokesperson for Cox’s campaign declined to comment on the court’s decision to reject the lawsuit.
Last August, Lyman filed an emergency petition to the Utah Supreme Court asking the justices to nullify Cox’s primary election victory. The court, without hearing a response from attorneys for Cox or the state, dismissed the suit a few days later in a six-page opinion that said Lyman failed to state a legal claim or factual basis for his demands.
“His request is based on a view that the Republican Party’s internal rules trump Utah’s election laws, a claim we rejected [previously],” Chief Justice Matthew Durrant wrote in the court’s August decision.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Gov. Spencer Cox speaks to the media on election night at the governorÕs mansion in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.
In his suit, Lyman — who received 67.5% of GOP delegates’ support in last year’s party convention but lost to Cox 54.4% to 45.6% in the Republican primary — alleged Cox did not collect the signatures needed to be included on the primary ballot.
A review of signatures Cox collected by the state auditor’s office found it was “statistically likely” that he’d reached the minimal threshold to qualify for the 2024 elections.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
