Phil Lyman, Democrat Brian King unite in campaign video against Gov. Spencer Cox

SALT LAKE CITY — An already chaotic Utah election cycle got even stranger Thursday, as former Republican gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman teamed up with Brian King, the Democratic nominee for governor, in a video to make the case against another four years of Gov. Spencer Cox.

The video, released Thursday by King’s campaign for governor, parodies a similar video filmed by Cox and then-Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Peterson during the 2020 campaign and mocks the governor’s “Disagree Better” initiative.

“Now, Phil and I disagree better about most issues,” King says with a wink.

A list of disagreements shows the candidates — who are colleagues in the Utah House of Representatives — are split on public lands, education curriculum, reproductive rights, election processes and the role of government. But both agree “that Spencer Cox should not be our next governor.”

Lyman, R-Blanding, lost to Cox in the June 25 primary election but contends that he should have been allowed  to advance directly to the general election after winning the GOP convention vote with 67.5%. The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday denied his request to be named the Republican party’s nominee in November, but Lyman has said he plans to appeal that decision and will run a write-in campaign.

He is identified in the video as the “former (or current depending on who you ask) GOP candidate for Utah governor,” and the video notes that litigation is pending.

While @phil_lyman and I disagree on just about everything, there’s one thing we agree on: @SpencerJCox should not be our next Governor. pic.twitter.com/P3PMYPWkn9

— Brian S. King (@KingForUtah) August 15, 2024

Republicans respond

King, who represents Salt Lake City, issued a statement along with the video saying: “Cox has proven that he is unreliable, unprincipled and untrustworthy. On this, Phil and I agree.”

“When we started this campaign, we set out to build a broad coalition of pragmatists, made up of Utahns who are looking for change — Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike,” King continued. “That is more important now than ever before. Any Utahn who agrees that our state needs different leadership is welcome in our campaign, and I plan to continue talking to voters of all political backgrounds across the state between now and November.”

King teased the video in a short trailer shared on the social platform X on Wednesday, along with a post that reads: “If you thought we were already shaking things up… 👀 see you tomorrow.”

“Honesty, integrity, and transparency are the cornerstones of true leadership,” Lyman said in a statement Thursday. “Unfortunately, we’ve witnessed Gov. Cox flip-flop on critical issues, saying one thing and doing another. Utah needs leaders with unshakable character — those who will confront challenges head-on and engage in direct, honest conversations to move our state forward. While Rep. King and I may not see eye to eye 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.”

Matt Lusty, a spokesman for Cox’s campaign, told KSL.com that voters have a clear choice in November: “Utah values or liberal, California-style policy positions.”

“Brian King is ranked every year as one of the most liberal members of the Utah Legislature,” he continued. “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 Gavin Newsom-style of government is the wrong solution for Utah.”

Lyman’s refusal to concede to Cox following the primary and his insistence on a write-in campaign has appeared to spook some in his party, and some fear that his candidacy could split the GOP electorate and help King become the first Democratic governor in the state since Gov. Scott M. Matheson in the 1980s. Lyman has until Sept. 3 at 5 p.m. to file as a write-in candidate.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee announced Wednesday he would be voting for Cox in the general election in a post on X.

“Primary elections are where Republicans vigorously debate policy differences. The primary is over,” Lee said. “We cannot risk Utah turning into California. We must defeat the Democrats by uniting behind our fellow Republicans.”

Utah Republican Party Chairman Rob Axson told KSL the party is “fully committed to supporting Republicans up and down the ballot” and said “any write-in campaign against our party will only benefit the Democrat candidates whose extreme policies are out of step with Utahns.”

Does Brian King have a real chance?

The ad was the idea of the King campaign. King says they were noticing the increasing calls by Lyman not to support Cox, even going so far to say that he would prefer King over Cox because he believes Cox has been disingenuous.

“I did say that I would prefer Brian King to Spencer Cox, because Spencer Cox has been pretty disingenuous with me,” Lyman said. “I’ll say this. I would drop my write-in campaign in a heartbeat if I could get some satisfaction as to the signatures and the actual results of the election. The fact that there’s no transparency is the reason I’m running.”

Lyman said he’s not endorsing King but rather trying to promote his write-in effort.

NEW: Republican @phil_lyman is explaining why he joined an ad against Gov. @SpencerJCox with Democrat @KingForUtah, and says he’s not endorsing King. He also says he’ll drop his write-in campaign “in a heartbeat” if @coxforgovernor will reveal the signatures that put him on the… pic.twitter.com/mfFieEFR9F

— Lindsay Aerts (@LindsayOnAir) August 15, 2024

“This is what it looks like when you campaign, you do ads, you get your name out there, you get some exposure, you create some controversy, whatever it takes. You try to get your message out. And it’s been really successful.”

King believes the ad will make a difference in the campaign. He also said he believes that Republicans are worried about his campaign as evidenced by those who have spoken out to defend Cox.

“We’ve seen the governor speak out. We’ve seen various state legislators speak out. We’ve seen Mike Lee speak out. And I don’t think that they would be paying attention if they didn’t think that I was a valid, strong Democratic challenger,” said King.