6 months ago
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State Rep. Phil Lyman, a Republican who has a long history of spreading election conspiracy theories, declared Tuesday that he would challenge Utah Gov. Spencer Cox for renomination.
"Utah was never meant to be a vassal state. It was meant to be an ensign for the nations," said Lyman, who also released an announcement video that proudly showcased his mugshot from his 2015 arrest for misdemeanor trespassing. The state representative did not directly mention Cox, who has remained a Donald Trump critic, even as he declared, "If we find ourselves with a government that conjures emergencies to trample our rights, then in our republic, we have the right to choose new leaders."
Lyman was a San Juan County commissioner in 2015 when he was convicted after leading an all-terrain vehicle group through a canyon the federal government had closed to protect Native American cliff dwellings. Prosecutors alleged that he recruited people who had recently taken part in far-right militant Cliven Bundy's armed standoff with federal law enforcement officials. Lyman spent 10 days in prison, and Trump later pardoned him in late 2020.
