After attempting to remove Gov. Cox from office, Lyman loses Utah Supreme Court challenge

Aug 14, 2024, 2:16 PM

Gov. Spencer J. Cox, left, speaks to reporters during the Governor's Monthly News Conference at the PBS Utah Studios in Salt Lake City on Thursday, May 16, 2024. Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding, right, testifies about his bill, HB371, in the House Government Operations Standing Committee at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. (Laura Seitz and Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

(Laura Seitz and Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

BY ALEXANDER CAMPBELL

KSLTV.com

SALT LAKE CITY — After petitioning the Utah Supreme Court to remove Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson from office for “malfeasance,” the court denied Rep. Phil Lyman’s petition on Tuesday.

In the order released on Tuesday, the Supreme Court concluded that Lyman was not eligible for the relief he requested, that relief being;

“Set aside and annul” the recent 2024 primary election for any office in which a Utah Republican candidate received at least 60% of the vote at the party’s April 2024 nominating convention, including the offices of governor and lieutenant governor;
“Certify to each county clerk” the names of Lyman and all Republican candidates who received at least sixty percent of the vote at the party’s April 2024 nominating convention for placement on the November 2024 General Election ballot as Republican party nominees;
Order Henderson to produce information that Lyman has previously requested under the Government Records Access and Management Act; and
Order Henderson and Cox to be removed from their offices for alleged malfeasance.

Invalidating the primary election

Lyman’s petition was rejected for multiple reasons, including a lack of evidence or basis for invalidating the primary election, failing to show that it “would be impractical or inappropriate to seek relief in the district court,” as well as that “Lyman seeks relief not only for himself but for other Republican party candidates,” according to the order filed.

In previous filings, Lyman has also argued that the Utah Republican Party’s bylaws require that any candidate receiving 60% or more of the votes at the party’s nominating convention proceeds to the general election, effectively circumventing state law. “We disagree,” the Supreme Court said.

According to the document, “Mr. Lyman cites no authority to support his assertion that political party’s internal rules override state election law. And he overlooks that we reached the opposite conclusion in Utah Republican Party v. Cox.”

Request to order Lt. Gov Henderson to produce information

In his Aug. 2 petition, Lyman also requested the names of registered voters who have signed nominating petitions for candidates relying on signatures to qualify for the primary ballot, arguing further that Utah law doesn’t protect the privacy of those signatures.

The Utah Supreme Court rejected that claim, due to the matter being challenged in a lower court. Despite Lyman’s withdrawal from that particular case, the matter is “still pending,” according to the Supreme Court order.

In the order, the Utah Supreme Court states that “he (Lyman) has not shown that he has exhausted his administrative remedies under GRAMA (the Government Records Access and Management Act),” and that “without these necessary showings, we are in no position to provide Lyman the relief he requests.”

Request to order Lt. Gov. Henderson and Gov. Cox removed from office

Lyman’s Aug. 2 petition also alleges that Henderson and Cox should be removed from office due to “malfeasance,” replacing Cox with Utah Senate President Stuart Adams as Utah’s governor until January after general election winners take office.

The Utah Supreme Court also rejected this claim, after Lyman “offered no viable factual or legal basis for the remedy he requests.”

Responses from both sides

After the ruling was announced, Henderson’s office called Lyman’s lawsuit “frivolous” and a “shameful disregard for the rule of law.”

“For all his talk of election integrity, Phil Lyman is the only candidate in the state who has actively tried to steal an election by demanding that the Supreme Court crown him the victor of a race he soundly lost,” Henderson’s office posted on X.

Cox shared Henderson’s post, adding he is “welcoming all of Phil Lyman’s supporters to join us” for the General Election against the Democrat gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Brian King.