Editor’s note: Gov. Spencer Cox is running for reelection against Democratic candidate Brian King. You can read about him here.
SALT LAKE CITY — Several dozen people milled around a large wooded backyard in Ogden on a recent Monday evening, casually chatting with neighbors while they waited for their chance to shake hands with and hear from Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
The sun was quickly setting, but a propane patio heater and firepit cast a warm perimeter around the back porch of Dr. Critt Aardema’s home. Some made s’mores, while Cox campaign staffers offered buttons and T-shirts.
The majority of guests appeared to be supporters of the Republican governor’s campaign for reelection, including Aardema, a family practitioner who isn’t particularly involved in politics but hosted the event at the invitation of his friend, Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski.
“Our political arena has become so polarized and honestly, I’m not loving the way that it’s becoming so incredibly dichotomous,” Aardema said. “I think Gov. Cox is very moderate in his approach. I think he does a great job of listening and trying to understand both sides of the issues and not just making decisions along party lines, which I think we need more.”
Some in the crowd were less sure of Cox, however, particularly as a result of that approach that has endeared him to many supporters. Ogden resident Lynette Jensen counted herself among the Cox skeptics.
She wore a bejeweled “Trump” pin with an American flag on her right lapel, and said she has been disappointed by the governor’s “lukewarm” support for the former president. Jensen joked that she made her husband, Marty, leave his “Make American Great Again” hat at home, so he opted for a black felt fedora, but was no less enthused with the prospect of a second Trump presidency.
Though Cox backed former President Donald Trump over the summer, the couple said they were most concerned by the lack of a “wholehearted endorsement.”
“My impression is he’s been pretty lukewarm in his support of President Trump,” Marty Jensen said. “Now he’s come out and endorsed him. I’m glad for that, but I’d like to know why. That’s one of the questions we have for him tonight.”
He would get the opportunity to put the question directly to Cox after the governor’s stump speech later that night — one of two questions from skeptics Cox would address by the end of the evening.
Cox’s veto of HB11
Dale Stephens, Aardema’s father-in-law, was another one of the skeptics in attendance. He described himself as a “very strong Republican” who was similarly disappointed with Cox’s stance on Trump. But he appeared more disturbed by one of the governor’s official actions taken two years ago, when he vetoed a controversial bill that would ban transgender girls from competing in girls high school sports.
Lawmakers would go on to override Cox’s veto, and Cox later signed a bill to indemnify school districts if they are sued over the restrictions.
“He’s a fine man and has terrific values. I think our governor is a great person — absolutely a great person,” Stephens told KSL.com. “But anybody that wants men to play in women’s sports, I can’t go with that.”
He said as much when Cox called on him for a question later that night. Cox thanked Stephens for the question, and spent nearly seven minutes explaining his rationale, beginning with the fact that Idaho passed a similar law before Utah did, only to have it quickly blocked by the courts. Utah’s law is also tied up in court — something Cox said he was hoping to avoid pending the outcome of Idaho’s case.
“There are some parts of this story that may surprise you,” the governor said, “and I am always amazed at how much people pay attention to one part, but not all of the parts.”
Cox also took issue with the process of passing HB11, which was approved in the final hours of the legislative session, after significant changes were made public only hours earlier.
“I just believe that’s really bad legislating,” he said.
The governor also pointed to Utah’s current law, which created a commission to determine who is eligible to participate in high school athletics. While the total ban is still on hold, he said he’s not aware of any transgender youth who are participating in sports.
KSL.com followed up with Stephens about the governor’s response, and he appeared mollified.
“The feeling that I got from him was that he’s against transgender (women) playing in women’s sports, and that made a huge difference for me,” he said. “All the people I talk to, all they know is he said no (to the bill). More people need to know that.”
Cox and Trump
When Marty Jensen asked Cox about his perceived waffling on Trump, the governor was transparent that he hasn’t “been a huge supporter in the past,” and that he had hoped the GOP would choose a different nominee this time around.
“I truly believe that if we had, we could have won by 10 points in this election, but we didn’t,” he said. “I don’t get to make the final say. My party chose someone else. They chose former President Trump, and so after the assassination attempt on his life, I just had a really strong feeling that I needed to reach out to him.”
The governor has said he hopes to nudge Trump toward a more respectful tone — something he admits is unlikely with or without his urging — and cast himself in opposition to the Biden administration, which he said Utah has sued more than 60 times since he took office.
The Jensens appreciated the answer.
“Maybe Cox is more constitutionally minded than the impression I get at times,” Lynette Jensen said afterward. “It might just be the louder outliers that I’m hearing and not the quieter things that are going on.”
But was Cox’s message enough to win him another two votes?
Marty politely declined to share, and Lynette simply said: “He’s given me more to think about, that’s for sure.”
Election Day is Nov. 5. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked the day prior to Election Day in order to count. In-person voting locations and hours are available on your local county clerk’s website or at vote.utah.gov. Voters have until Friday at 5 p.m. to register to vote in the general election.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
