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SALT LAKE CITY — Gubernatorial hopeful Phil Lyman is going to court to challenge a ruling by an independent adviser to the state elections office after his running mate was declared ineligible due to state residency requirements for executive branch officials.
Lyman, a Republican state representative from Blanding, announced Layne Bangerter as his running mate Saturday, hours before winning the delegate vote at the Republican state nominating convention to set up a primary with incumbent Gov. Spencer Cox.
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson's office on Monday released a memorandum by independent adviser Greg Bell, in which Bell recommends that Bangerter is ineligible for the office of lieutenant governor because he has not lived in the state for five years prior to the election. Because Henderson is seeking reelection as Cox's running mate, she named Bell, a former lieutenant governor, as an independent adviser in March and recused herself from cases involving her own election.
Bell's memorandum notes that Lyman and Bangerter appeared at the lieutenant governor's office Monday morning to file their candidacy forms.
"The filing officer at the office has declined to accept the submission based on the interpretation of the residency qualification requirement stated in the Utah Constitution and Mr. Bangerter's acknowledgment that he has not been a resident of Utah for the five years immediately preceding the 2024 election," Bell wrote.
He cites Article VII, Section 3 of the Utah Constitution, which states: "No person is eligible to any of the offices provided for in Section 1 unless at the time of election that person is a qualified voter and has been a resident citizen of the state for five years next preceding the election."
"While it appears that Mr. Bangerter has been a resident of Utah at various times of his life, media has reported, and Mr. Bangerter has acknowledged that he moved to Utah from Idaho in 2021," Bell continues, noting that Bangerter voted in Idaho in 2020.
Lyman disputed the recommendation on Monday, calling the language in Section 3 "ambiguous" and "often thought to mean the residency requirement must be immediately preceding the election for a consecutive number of years."
"However," he continued in a post on social platform X, "in one of the few cases to scrutinize this language, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled this language to mean any period of the required number of years preceding the election. ... Layne Bangerter easily meets this requirement and is a fully qualified candidate for lieutenant governor."
Lyman added that Bangerter was selected as a national delegate for the Republican party during the convention on Saturday, "a position for which no concerns were raised about his eligibility." However, eligibility for positions within the Republican Party — such as national or state delegate — are governed by party bylaws, not the state constitution.
PRESS RELEASE
— Phil Lyman for Governor (@phil_lyman) April 29, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2024
Lyman Campaign Responds to Bangerter Eligibility Concerns
Salt Lake City, UT — The Lyman for Utah campaign is honored to have Layne Bangerter as Phil Lyman's lieutenant governor candidate. Layne has lived in Utah for over 30… pic.twitter.com/6q0dlOHAFt
Bangerter and Lyman on Monday filed a lawsuit against Henderson and state Elections Director Ryan Cowley in 3rd District Court, accusing them of failing to follow state election law and asking the courts to compel the office to accept Bangerter's candidacy.
"The (Lieutenant Governor's Office's) refusal to accept Bangerter's declaration of candidacy intentionally interferes with the campaign of Phillip Lyman, the Republican Convention nominee and leading Republican candidate for the office of governor of Utah," the complaint states.
Although Lyman easily beat Cox at convention, the delegates are widely seen as not representative of the Republican electorate in Utah at large, and Cox led all challengers by 45 points in an early poll of the gubernatorial race in February.
The candidates have asked the courts to quickly review the allegations in the case "to enable Bangerter and Lyman to have a fair opportunity to campaign and to ensure compliance with the ballot mailing deadlines."
The primary election is June 25.
