Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Phil Lyman, a write-in candidate for Utah governor, has sued Richard and Carol Lyman, alleging they were paid to run against him.
- Richard and Carol Lyman denied the allegations, withdrew from the race, and claim they were forced out by his frivolous lawsuit.
- Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson supported Phil Lyman's claims, stating Richard and Carol Lyman's campaign lacked activity and clarity.
SALT LAKE CITY — Phil Lyman, a Republican write-in candidate for governor, has sued two other write-in candidates with his same last name, alleging that they were offered payment by Spencer Cox's campaign to run for office and the damages from their campaign cost him up to $1.7 million.
Phil Lyman filed a lawsuit against Richard and Carol Lyman on Oct. 16 with the allegations. However, on Thursday, the two parties agreed to a stipulation that Richard and Carol Lyman would drop out of the race by 5 p.m., and that "any vote for Lyman in the general election will be construed as a vote for Phil Lyman," the proposed stipulation says.
The Utah Lt. Governor's Office confirmed the withdrawal and clarified it is directing county clerks to treat the election like Richard and Carol Lyman never entered the race. The office said it is reasonable to assume that any write-in votes for "Lyman" will be counted as votes for Phil Lyman.
Phil Lyman's allegations
According to court documents, Phil Lyman and his running mate, Natalie Clawson, filed the suit in Utah's 3rd District Court, alleging that "on Sept. 3, Richard Lyman reported the Cox campaign offered him $1,000 and a steak dinner in exchange for declaring his candidacy."
Richard and Carol Lyman have denied the allegations. The Cox campaign has previously called the allegations "blatantly false."
The suit includes a declaration from James Newson, who alleges he's a co-worker of Richard Lyman. He alleges in the suit that on that day, Richard Lyman took a personal phone call at work and told Newson the Cox campaign had just offered him the money and dinner to "mess with Lyman's campaign."
"He seemed genuinely excited about it," Newson wrote in his declaration.
According to the court filing, Newson alleges Richard Lyman left work early to go file to run.
Newson then alleges in his filing that after he talked to Phil Lyman and to the media about his claims, Richard Lyman denounced that Cox had anything to do with the alleged offer and wasn't threatening him.
The court documents show those text messages from Sept. 9, but they cut off after Richard Lyman wrote, "Cox threatening me? He seriously had nothing to do with this. I've never spoken of or had any form of ..." That's the end of the text thread.
Court documents show that the lawsuit is still open.
Richard and Carol Lyman respond
On Friday, Richard and Carol Lyman released a statement about withdrawing from the governor and lieutenant governor's race.
In the statement, Richard and Carol Lyman said the claims in the lawsuit against them are false, and they were "forced out" of the race.
"Before we even submitted our candidacy, a plan was already in motion to push us out of the race," Richard and Carol Lyman said. "The plan culminated in a frivolous lawsuit that we simply cannot afford to fight. … We have every right to run for governor and lieutenant governor and should not have been forced out by those with deeper pockets."
According to the statement, Carol Lyman had broken her femur "days after knee surgery on the same leg," claiming it made it "harder to get their campaign off the ground."
The statement said Richard Lyman had "political aspirations since childhood, (and) wanted to bring attention to issues like homelessness, addiction, and mental health."
Richard and Carol Lyman said they are grateful for the support they received during the campaign and wish "all candidates running for elected office the best of luck in the coming weeks as Utahns cast their ballots for the next governor and lieutenant governor."
Utah County clerk backs Phil Lyman's claims
According to filings, Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson also filed a brief on behalf of Phil Lyman, pledging support for another of Phil Lyman's claims that Richard and Carol Lyman have not campaigned since they filed.
"I have not seen nor heard any campaigning from Lyman/Lyman," Davidson wrote his declaration. "Every attempt that I have seen of someone to reach out to them has been met with the door being closed on them."
Davidson noted that Richard and Carol Lyman's campaign website only has five photos, which has nothing "to do with their campaign," and the links do not work.
Davidson also wrote that because of this, "It can be rightfully assumed that their entire campaign is to create voter confusion."
Contributing: Michael Houck
