In an unprecedented move, former gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman is asking the Utah Supreme Court to throw out the results from the June 25 primary election. In addition, Lyman is seeking to oust Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson from their respective offices due to “malfeasance” and aims to replace them with Utah Senate President Stuart Adams.
The lawsuit, in which Lyman is acting as his council, was filed with the Utah Supreme Court listing Cox, Henderson, Utah Republican State Party Chair Robert Axon, and the Utah Republican Party as defendants, contests that the signature gathering method used by Cox as well as other prominent Republicans to get on the primary ballot is invalid and should instead replace election winners who appeared on the ballot through signature gathering with those who won the convention vote but lost their primary on the general election ballot.
“Before Utah passed legislation known as Senate Bill 54 (hereinafter, SB54) in 2014, Utah election law gave political parties freedom to choose how they would nominate candidates for the general election. Parties could choose whether to use the state’s primary election mechanism. With that freedom, the Utah Republican Party (the, “URP”)chose not to use the primary as its principal means of selecting candidates.” Reads Lyman’s lawsuit,” Instead, URP had, and continues to employ, a carefully crafted convention process; however, requirements of Senate Bill 54 continue to undermine the party convention system –fueling intraparty strife and endangering the associations’ very existence.”
Cox’s campaign released a statement on Friday criticizing the lawsuit,” Rep. Lyman’s attempt to undo a democratic election rather than honor the will of the people is not just sad, but dangerous,” campaign spokesman Matt Lusty said. “It’s the kind of action you see in a banana republic and not the United States of America. 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.”
If this lawsuit prevails in the Supreme Court, it would have a reaching effect across all state primary elections, with convention winners who lost the primary replacing the primary winners on the ballot. That would mean candidates such as Tom Hansen and Trent Staggs would appear on the ballot despite falling in the primary.
As of Friday, there has been no indication of whether or not the Utah Supreme Court will take on this case, however, Associate Chief Justice John Pearce, who was appointed by Gary Herbert in 2016, has recused himself from the case, meaning a judge from another court will fill his seat if the case is heard.
This isn’t the first time SB54, which allows for the signature gathering path to enter the ballot, has been challenged in court. Lawsuits were filed after the bill was initially passed in 2014, but were unsuccessful and resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. The bill is unpopular among some Utah Republicans including Sen. Mike Lee, who posted on X, formerly Twitter,”We MUST repeal SB54. It puts libs inside our party. Time to kick them out.” The main ire about this bill comes from candidates who win the smaller delegate vote and go on to underperform within their primary among the general public.