After losing the Republican primary election to incumbent Gov. Spencer Cox, Phil Lyman has asked the Utah Supreme Court to toss out the results of the primary election and remove Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson from office.
Filing the petition himself, Lyman named Cox, Henderson, Rob Axson and the Utah Republican Party as respondents. Lyman’s main argument has to do with a law that allows candidates to gather signatures to get onto the primary ballot.
Axson told the Deseret News in a phone call he complied with the procedures outlined in state law and while he does not certify the nominee for general election (per state law), he did certify Lyman as the official nominee for the primary ballot.
In response to Lyman’s lawsuit, Axson pointed to a statement he released earlier related to the gubernatorial campaign. “It’s time for Utahns to stop playing games that inadvertently support liberal policies or the Democrat candidates who promote them. Republicans must unite, support our nominees up and down the ballot, and work diligently to ensure we elect them in November,” he said.
Matt Lusty, spokesperson for the Cox campaign, said, “Rep. Lyman’s attempt to undo a democratic election rather than honor the will of the people is not just sad, but dangerous.”
“It’s the kind of action you see in a banana republic and not the United States of American,” said Lusty. “Half the candidates in the primary election lost. In our proud American tradition, almost all of them did so with grace and poise. We encourage Mr. Lyman and his camp to do the same.”
Lusty said the Cox campaign invites Lyman and his running mate Natalie Clawson “to accept the election results, stop misleading citizens about Utah’s laws for ballot access (laws that Mr. Lyman voted for), and help unite the Republican Party and its members by supporting the GOP ticket as it moves to a general election against a liberal Democrat opponent.”
At the Utah Republican Party convention, Lyman received more than 60% of the delegate vote, which earned him a spot on the primary ballot. Cox met the qualification of gathering 28,000 signatures from registered Republicans to appear on the primary ballot.
In his petition, Lyman claimed the signature gathering law did not change the internal proceedings of the party and subsequently, he said he should have been advanced to the general election ballot by the Utah Republican Party.
“Although SB54 created two paths to the Primary election, it did not change the internal procedures of the party that if a single candidate achieves over 60% of the caucus vote, that candidate is certified to the state for placement on the general election ballot, and no primary is held for that office,” wrote Lyman.
In previous conversations, Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, and Axson have both told the Deseret News state law trumps party documents.
“The Republican Party last fall told the Utah elections office, we’re going to participate in the 2024 election as a QPP, qualified political party, which means we’ll accept signature candidates and convention candidates,” Weiler said.
Axson said, unless there is a court decision to the contrary, “The rules, the bylaws, the Constitution, the foundational documents of that organization, practice and even just out of habit or tradition, all of those things are superseded by state law, which itself is superseded by federal law.”
This latest attempt to argue against the signature gathering law is not the first time the law has been challenged. The Utah Republican Party previously sued the state over the signature gathering law and was unsuccessful in its efforts. The case made it up to federal court and the signature gathering law was upheld.
In an earlier filing, Lyman also requested the Utah Supreme Court grant access to the signature gathering petitions used by Republican candidates.
Signatures on the petitions are considered protected information by state law and voters also have the option to keep some of their information private. The Lieutenant Governor’s Office denied the request to give the full packets over with identifying information, but offered to give the Lyman campaign a list of names, in accordance with statutory requirements, when Lyman’s running mate Clawson requested the packets.
Lyman said these records should be made public.
In his requests for relief, Lyman asked the court to “annul the June 25, 2024, primary election” and to say Lyman is the Utah Republican Party nominee for governor.
He also said the court should designate all candidates who received 60% of the caucus vote as the nominee on the general election ballot.
Lyman also requested the court remove Cox and Henderson from office, and to appoint Senate President Stuart Adams as governor. He also asked the court to order the release of records requested by Lyman.
This story has been updated.