Lt. Governor Spencer Cox wins Utah's Republican gubernatorial primary

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Lt. Governor Spencer Cox wins Utah's Republican gubernatorial primary
In this Monday, June 1, 2020, photo, former Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr., speaks during the Utah Gubernatorial Republican Primary Debate in Salt Lake City. Huntsman Jr. has one of the most recognizable names in the state as a former popular governor and son of a billionaire philanthropist. He stepped down as U.S. ambassador to Russia under Donald Trump to return to Utah and make a run and reclaiming his seat. (Ivy Ceballo/Deseret News, via AP, Pool)Associated Press
  • Lt. Gov Spencer Cox won the Republican primary for Utah's governorship, Decision Desk HQ projects.
  • Cox beat former Gov. Jon Huntsman, State Rep. Gregory Hughes, and GOP official Thomas Wright for the nomination.
  • Utah conducts its elections almost entirely by mail and sends every voter a ballot, meaning the race wasn't called until almost a week after the June 30 primary.
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The stakes:

In Utah, Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox won a competitive Republican primary to replace three-term Gov. Gary Herbert, who is declining to run for a fourth term and stepping down from office next year.

Cox raised $2.46 million for his primary bid and has been endorsed by Herbert, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Cox, who has served as Lieutenant Governor since 2013, was previously a Utah State Representative, Sanpete County Commissioner, and Mayor of the city of Fairview.

Cox's main rival for the nomination was Jon Huntsman, who served as the state's governor from 2005 to 2009 before running for president in 2012 and serving as the US Ambassador to Russia under President Donald Trump's administration, is running again for the Governor's office.

And Hunstman, who has raised $1.45 million so far, attempted to complicate Cox's path to the nomination by appealing to independents and Democrats.

As Mother Jones recently reported, former Utah Democratic party chairman Jim Dabakis is launching an aggressive effort to convince Democrats to register as Republicans so they can vote for Huntsman, who holds the most politically moderate views among the field.

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State Representative and small business owner Greg Hughes and Thomas Wright, a businessman and Republican party official who served as Chairman of Utah's Republican party from 2011 to 2013, were the other two main candidates vying for the nomination.

The most recent poll of the race conducted by the polling firm Dan Jones & Associates for the Salt Lake Chamber showed Cox and Hunstman neck-and-neck with 30% and 29% of voters indicating they would vote for each, Hughes with 15% support, and Wright with 6% support.

Cox will face Chris Peterson, a University of Utah law professor who Democrats selected as their nominee in an April party convention.

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