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 County results Congressional district resultsCox: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% King: 40–50% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Utah | ||||||
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Ballot measures
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The2024 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2024, to elect thegovernor of Utah, concurrently with the2024 U.S. presidential election, as well aselections to theUnited States Senate and theUnited States House of Representatives and variousstate and local elections. IncumbentRepublican GovernorSpencer Cox won re-election to a second term, defeatingDemocratic nominee, stateRepresentativeBrian King and Republican state RepresentativePhil Lyman, who ran as a write-in candidate after being defeated in the Republican primary.[1] Primary elections took place on June 25, 2024.[2] This was the smallest percent of the vote by a winning Republican since the1992 election, which also saw a major independent candidate. Cox's 24.43% margin of victory was also the smallest since2004.
Utah is considered to be a stronglyred state at the federal and state levels: Republicans control all statewide executive offices, the entire congressional delegation, and supermajorities in both state legislative chambers. In the2020 presidential election,Donald Trump carried Utah by 20.5 percentage points.[3][4]
Cox was first elected in2020, defeating Christopher Peterson by 32.65 points.[5]
Incumbent Republican governorSpencer Cox faced criticism from many conservatives for his moderate political positions, including his veto of HB11,[6] and opposition to former presidentDonald Trump.[7] Cox was booed at the Utah Republican state convention in April 2024.[8] He faced a primary challenge from state representativePhil Lyman, who won over 67% of the vote at the convention.[9] However, Cox collected enough signatures to appear on the primary ballot. Cox consistently led Lyman in polls and won re-nomination, though Lyman refused to concede.[10][11]
| Campaign finance reports as of June 13, 2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Raised | Spent | Cash on hand |
| Spencer Cox (R) | $1,263,235 | $2,142,975 | $645,543 |
| Phil Lyman (R) | $1,408,004 | $1,051,850 | $356,153 |
| Source: State of Utah Financial Disclosures[22] | |||
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | Spencer Cox | Phil Lyman | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noble Predictive Insights[23] | June 20–21, 2024 | 432 (LV) | ± 4.7% | 55% | 42% | 2%[b] | 1% |
| HarrisX[24][A] | June 4–7, 2024 | 477 (RV) | ± 4.5% | 62% | 25% | – | 12% |
| Noble Predictive Insights[25] | April 8–16, 2024 | 283 (RV) | ± 5.8% | 51% | 4% | 9%[c] | 36% |
| Dan Jones & Associates[26] | January 16–21, 2024 | 428 (RV) | ± 4.7% | 50% | 3% | 11%[d] | 37% |
| Republican convention results | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate/Running mate | Round 1 | Round 2 | ||||||||||
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||||||
| Phil Lyman/Layne Bangerter | 1663 | 44.24% | 2495 | 67.54% | ||||||||
| Spencer Cox/Deidre Henderson | 1085 | 28.86% | 1199 | 32.46% | ||||||||
| Carson Jorgensen/Corrine Johnson | 970 | 25.80% | Eliminated | |||||||||
| Scott Robbins | 21 | 0.56% | Eliminated | |||||||||
| Sylvia Miera-Fisk | 20 | 0.53% | Eliminated | |||||||||
| Inactive Ballots | 2 ballots | 4 ballots | ||||||||||
| No. | Date | Host | Moderator | Link | Republican | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P Participant A Absent N Not invited I Invited W Withdrawn | ||||||
| Cox | Lyman | |||||
| 1 | Jun. 11, 2024 | Utah Debate Commission | Carolina Ballard | YouTube | P | P |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Spencer Cox (incumbent) Deidre Henderson (incumbent) | 232,164 | 54.40% | |
| Republican | Phil Lyman Natalie Clawson | 194,639 | 45.60% | |
| Total votes | 426,803 | 100.00% | ||
Lyman later sued, claiming that the Republican convention was responsible for selecting the party's nominee and that the primary was illegal. TheUtah Supreme Court rejected his argument.[28] Lyman later announced that he would run as a write-in candidate.[29]
Cox has since backed Trump after anassassination attempt made during a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, stating in a letter: "Your life was spared. Now, because of that miracle, you have the opportunity to do something that no other person on earth can do right now: unify and save our country."[30] Cox also stated in a later news conference: “I am doing everything I can to help and support him...We will still have lots of disagreements, I’m sure, and we’ll still do everything we can to help the state of Utah and help the Republican Party be successful.”[31]
Political parties
| No. | Date | Host | Moderator | Link | Republican | Democratic | Libertarian | Write-in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P Participant A Absent N Not invited I Invited W Withdrawn | ||||||||
| Cox | King | Latham | Lyman | |||||
| 1 | Sep. 11, 2024 | Utah Debate Commission | Jason Perry | YouTube | P | P | P | N |
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[38] | Solid R | July 13, 2024 |
| Inside Elections[39] | Solid R | July 14, 2023 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[40] | Safe R | June 4, 2024 |
| RCP[41] | Solid R | July 13, 2024 |
| Elections Daily[42] | Safe R | July 12, 2023 |
| CNalysis[43] | Solid R | August 17, 2024 |
| Campaign finance reports as of October 14, 2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Raised | Spent | Cash on hand |
| Spencer Cox (R) | $2,415,468 | $3,782,382 | $158,370 |
| Brian King (D) | $632,080 | $651,962 | $24,436 |
| Source: State of Utah Financial Disclosures[22] | |||
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | Spencer Cox (R) | Brian King (D) | Robert Latham (L) | Tommy Williams (I) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noble Predictive Insights[44] | October 25–28, 2024 | 695 (LV) | ± 3.7% | 43% | 26% | 3% | 3% | 18%[e] | 6% |
| HarrisX[45][A] | October 15–19, 2024 | 813 (RV) | ± 3.4% | 51% | 19% | 3% | 4% | 2%[f] | 22% |
| 61% | 21% | 4% | 7% | 6%[g] | – | ||||
| Noble Predictive Insights[46] | October 2–7, 2024 | 539 (LV) | ± 4.22% | 54% | 26% | – | – | – | 20% |
| 49% | 23% | 2% | 2% | 5%[h] | 19% | ||||
| 600 (RV) | ± 4.0% | 52% | 26% | – | – | – | 21% | ||
| Public Policy Polling (D)[47][B] | September 27–28, 2024 | 612 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 45% | 32% | – | – | – | 23% |
| 35% | 24% | 3% | – | 19%[i] | 18% | ||||
| Lighthouse Research[48][C] | August 29 – September 4, 2024 | 518 (RV) | ± 4.31% | 48% | 27% | 7% | 4% | 8%[j] | 5% |
| HarrisX[49][A] | August 2–9, 2024 | 800 (RV) | ± 3.5% | 56% | 17% | 4% | 6% | – | 17% |
| 59% | 19% | – | – | – | 22% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |
| 781,431 | 52.89% | −10.09 | |
| Democratic |
| 420,514 | 28.63% | −1.72 | |
| Write-In |
| 200,551 | 13.57% | N/A | |
| Libertarian |
| 41,164 | 2.79% | −0.73 | |
| Independent American |
| 27,480 | 1.86% | +0.09 | |
| Independent |
| 5,792 | 0.39% | N/A | |
| Write-In |
| 525 | 0.04% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 1,477,457 | 100.00% | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
Cox won all four congressional districts.[51]
| District | Cox | King | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 54% | 29% | Blake Moore |
| 2nd | 51% | 31% | Celeste Maloy |
| 3rd | 53% | 28% | John Curtis (118th Congress) |
| Mike Kennedy (119th Congress) | |||
| 4th | 54% | 26% | Burgess Owens |
Partisan clients
Cox has said he does intend to run for reelection in 2024.
"That's not something I'm planning to do, challenging Governor Cox is not in my plans," he said of 2024. But he said he is keeping his eye on a possible 2028 run for Utah governor.
Official campaign websites
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