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WASHINGTON — State Rep. Phil Lyman's legal efforts to replace Gov. Spencer Cox as the incoming governor hit a roadblock with the nation's high court on Friday, when Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch denied an emergency petition to pause the certification of the election Cox won last month.
It's the latest legal setback for the Blanding Republican, who has been rebuffed by several courts and twice by Utah voters during the 2024 gubernatorial campaign.
Gorsuch, the associate justice who oversees cases brought from Utah and several other Western states, denied Lyman's request for an injunction to prevent the certification of Utah's general election late Friday. The Donald Trump-appointed justice did not issue an order explaining the denial.
Utah's election results were certified last month, and Cox will be inaugurated to a second term in the Governor's Mansion early next year.
Lyman posted on the social media platform X shortly after his emergency petition was denied, saying it "was not a denial" and calling the decision "fully anticipated."
"This was not a denial, rather a dismissal of my request to pause the certification of the election," Lyman said. "Although I filed it before the certification, it was not docketed and Gorsuch did not review before the certification. This was fully anticipated. There are many who are falsely 'reporting' that it is a dismissal of the case, it is not. This fight is far from over!"
Lyman lost to Cox in the Republican gubernatorial primary in June but has refused to concede and instead has filed several legal motions seeking to replace Cox on the general election ballot, including a motion with the state's top court asking for Cox to be thrown out of office. Lyman won the GOP convention vote in April and argued that he was the rightful Republican nominee, despite a state law that allows candidates to qualify for the primary by collecting signatures, even if they lose at convention.
Utah's Supreme Court rebuffed Lyman in August, writing that he "has not shown a legal basis for setting aside the 2024 Republican primary election."
The state representative then launched a write-in campaign for governor in the general election. In October, he appealed his state Supreme Court decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. He filed a request for emergency injunctive relief to pause the certification of Utah's election results on Nov. 21, five days before the State Board of Canvassers met to approve the results.
Though Lyman's write-in effort earned an impressive 13.57% of the general election vote, he finished in third place behind Cox and Democrat Brian King.
More than 200 GOP state delegates filed a friend of the court brief on behalf of Lyman last week, including Trent Staggs, a former Republican Senate candidate who lost to Sen.-elect John Curtis in the primary. Like Lyman, Staggs won the convention vote, and Lyman has contended that he, too, should have advanced to general election despite losing the primary.
