After being booed, Gov. Cox says caucus-convention system shouldn’t go away

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox does not support getting rid of the state’s party caucus and convention system, he said at a PBS press conference on Thursday.

Less than a month after the governor was shouted down and handed a stinging loss by state GOP delegates, Cox defended the unique party nomination pathway to the primary ballot and said his terse convention speech was directed toward only a small minority of Republicans.

“I love the caucus-convention system,” he told reporters at the monthly broadcast. “I believe in the caucus convention system, I always have, I think it’s really important and unique.”

What happened to Gov. Cox at convention?

In 2020, then-Lt. Gov. Cox received 52% of the convention vote, making him one of two candidates to receive the endorsement of delegates going into the primary election, which he then narrowly won in a four-way race with 36% of the vote.

Four years later, after a litany of conservative policy wins and some culture war controversy, Cox was met by some applause and a litany of boos from the nearly 4,000 state delegates elected to represent neighborhood party precincts who were gathered in Salt Lake City on April 27.

Speaking over shouts that sometimes made it hard to hear him, Cox told delegates “I love you guys” before choosing to abandon his prepared remarks to respond to his unwelcome reception.

He praised those who were there for “constructive purposes” and condemned those who, in his words, were “borrowing cancel culture from the left.”

“I’m a little worried about our caucus-convention system,” Cox said on the stage. “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.”

Cox proceeded to run through a number of bills passed during his tenure — historical tax cuts, constitutional firearm carry, abortion restrictions, DEI bans — and asked his hecklers whether what they really hate is “that I don’t hate enough.”

What were the results of the GOP state convention?

Delegates didn’t respond well to the comment. Cox received just 32.5% of the vote in the second and final round of voting while his challenger, state Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding, received 67.5%, ensuring his place as the official Utah GOP gubernatorial nominee ahead of the June 25 primary.

Two days after the convention, the Cox campaign sent out fundraising emails using convention-goers as a foil. “Last Saturday, extreme right-wing delegates gave my opponent 67.5% of the vote after weeks of misleading voters about my record,” the email said.

In the days following the convention, the Salt Lake County and Iron County Republican Party organizations issued statements criticizing Cox’ remarks as divisive.

“It’s not surprising to see Spencer Cox backtracking from his outspoken criticism of the Republican delegates,” Lyman told the Deseret News in a statement. “Gov. Cox was hurt by his performance at Convention, now it’s hurting his campaign(.)”

But as with many elections in the past, the delegates’ reaction to Cox appears to be unrepresentative of most Republican voters. An April 22 Morning Consult poll found Cox with 69% approval rating among Utah Republicans. An April 29 poll by Noble Predictive Insights found that among Republican voters that have an opinion, 81% said they would vote for Cox in the GOP primary.

At Thursday’s press conference, Cox said he didn’t regret his comments at the convention but said they weren’t meant to refer to all those who disagreed with him, just “a small group, but a very loud group of people, that kind of ruined the experience for so many people.”

Will Utah change the caucus system?

The consistent discrepancy between convention delegates and most Republican voters, Cox pointed out, is not new, with delegates booing several of his predecessors going back decades.

“I don’t know that it’s something that can ever be fixed,” Cox said.

But he has not prescribed any changes to the system and said its benefits outweigh its shortfalls.

“I think having an alternative path to the ballot is wise,” Cox said on Thursday, explaining that the convention nomination can sometimes be more accessible to candidates with less resources. “But I do understand the deep frustration of those who who believe that the caucus-convention system is no longer representative.”

Cox said he didn’t know if state lawmakers would try to change the system or try to eliminate the convention path entirely in upcoming legislative sessions. “I haven’t heard any proposals yet. But we’ll be paying attention,” Cox said.

Cox did encourage the Utah Republican Party to try to increase participation in caucus night in an effort to elect a more representative group of delegates every two years.

“We need more people to show up. That’s the important part,” Cox said. “And yet, I understand that that is part of the problem — not everyone can show up on caucus night.”