Originally published on Deseret News By Suzanne Bates on June 8, 2024, 9:03 p.m. MDT

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Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has a commanding lead over his primary challenger, state Rep. Phil Lyman, ahead of the June 25 primary election.

Cox, who is running for his second term in office, is among the most popular governors in the nation. So when state Rep. Phil Lyman was the top vote-getter at the GOP state convention in April, winning 67% of delegates’ votes, many were surprised.

But a new poll conducted by HarrisX for the Deseret News and the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics shows Cox with 62% support among likely Republican primary voters, while Lyman garners 25% support. Another 12% of voters said they were unsure.
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When undecided voters were asked which way they were leaning, Cox’s lead increased, with 71% choosing the incumbent compared to 29% for Lyman.

The poll was conducted by HarrisX among 477 likely Utah Republican voters, including those who had already voted, from June 4-6, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute, said while there was some division evident among Republicans at the state convention, the poll results show convention delegates do favor “much more conservative” candidates than the Republican electorate statewide.

“This is not a completely new phenomenon, it’s something we’ve seen over the years,” Perry said. “We’re just seeing it more clearly this year than we have in the past.”

Cox was booed at the convention by some of the delegates, leading him to express frustration with delegates and the convention system.

“I’m a little worried about our caucus convention system,” Cox said at the time. “There are a whole bunch of people out there who want to get rid of this. … I hope you’re not giving them more ammunition today.”