2024 UT Governor's race: on Principles & Values

Spencer Cox: I don't like to rank sins; I just do the best I can

COX: Whether you see that as a sin or not I think is unimportant. I don't like to rank sins. I clearly have many, many, many faults and many sins myself. I've just determined that none of that matters to me personally. I just have to do the best I can with what I have. Part of that is the commandment - and my church teaches this as well - that we are to love everyone as Jesus taught us.

Spencer Cox: American Exceptionalism means disagreeing better

Phil Lyman: Supports Trump; Biden does not put America first

Brian King: I believe that it is Christlike to challenge the status quo

"Not only through my study of the New Testament and Book of Mormon but from studying my own family history, I've come to believe that it is Christlike to challenge the status quo. The man we worship was killed for it. My great great grandfather, Hyrum Smith, was also killed for challenging authority and standing up for what he knew to be true, even when it was deeply unpopular. In everything I do, I hope to follow in their footsteps."

Brian King: Opposes restricting freedoms in the names of religion

Brian King: Running-mate: librarian Rebekah Cummings for Lt.Gov.

Cummings is the director of digital matters at the University of Utah and is a board chair of the Utah State Library Board. She has been a fierce advocate against book banning. These qualifications "are very relevant to the issues that we're facing," King said in his reasoning for picking her.

"I've actually been Brian's constituent for the past 11 years," she said, adding she has felt impressed by his ability to focus on "common sense solutions and working across the aisle to get things done."

Phil Lyman: Running-mate: adoption lawyer Natalie Clawson for Lt.Gov.

The change in candidate comes after Layne Bangerter, Phil Lyman's original lieutenant govenor pick, was declared ineligible by a Utah judge. The issue was Bangerter's residency in Utah was not the minimum of five years "immediately" preceding the election as required by the Utah Constitution.

Born and raised in Utah County, Clawson studied political science and graduated from Brigham Young University's law school. "I've been involved in adoption law, state planning and other areas," Clawson said.

Clawson has also focused on education policies and laws impacting her children. She has also attended police academy, clerked for a Utah County judge and worked on the Secure Vote Utah initiative.

Phil Lyman: Running write-in campaign: won convention & lost primary

In a social media post, Lyman wrote, "I will be running as a write-in candidate in the general election in November," then told another, "There is a true conservative option."

At convention, Lyman secured a little over 2/3 of delegates' support, beating Cox, who landed on the ballot by gathering more than 28,000 signatures from voters. Cox emerged from the primary with 54% of Republican votes. [Lyman has sued to remove Cox from the ballot]. Delegates who participate in the convention process tend to lean further to the right than the state's larger Republican electorate.

Spencer Cox: I endorse Trump because most Utahns support Trump

Early on in the debate, King leveled criticism at Cox for his about-face endorsement of former President Donald Trump as his National Governors Association campaign to "disagree better" concluded. "The governor right now is simply acting inconsistently with his statements that he wants to disagree better," he said, pointing out the ex-president's efforts to overturn the results of the last presidential election.

Cox responded, saying, "It's sad to me that my colleague would dismiss the vast majority of voters in our state who are going to support the former president," adding he aims to continue to try bringing Utahns across the political spectrum together.