Failed gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman is asking the Utah Supreme Court to oust Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson from office, kick them both off the 2024 ballot, eliminate Rep. John Curtis as the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate and upend the state’s political system.
Lyman, a state lawmaker and accountant who is acting as his own counsel, contends that due to “malfeasance” in office, the court should disqualify Cox and Henderson from office and replace them with Utah Senate President Stuart Adams and a lieutenant governor that Adams chooses until after the upcoming election.
Beyond that, Lyman argues, a few candidates for top offices who were chosen as the party’s nominees by more than half a million Republican voters in the primary election in June should be disqualified from the ballot and replaced by the candidates who received more than 60% of delegate support at the Utah Republican Party’s nominating convention in April.
Lyman, for example, got a little over two-thirds of delegates’ support, while Cox, however, gathered signatures from voters under 2014′s SB54, enables candidates to qualify for the primary by collecting enough signatures from supporters.
Cox ended up soundly beating Lyman — 54.4% to 45.6% — in the GOP primary
Lyman contends that the signature-gathering route — which has already withstood legal challenges and appeals from the Republican Party — is unconstitutional and invalid. Accordingly, Lyman argues he, and not Cox, deserves to be the party’s nominee.
Lyman initially filed as a signature-gathering candidate, but abandoned his efforts early on.
Theoretically, if Lyman prevails, he would likely go on to be the next governor of Utah, which has not elected a Democrat to the office in 44 years.
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This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.