With the last votes of the 2024 election finally counted, numbers have shown that Gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman won the most write-in votes for a non-presidential campaign in United States history. With 200,551 votes counted, he won more than any other third-party or write-in candidate in the state.
Phil Lyman, the current representative in the Utah House, ran this election cycle on a platform that included curbing inflation, standing against illegal immigration, and exposing and stopping state-level government corruption. Following the 2024 primary elections, Lyman’s campaign office shared information with the public, which accused Governor Spencer Cox of failing to obtain enough signatures to remain on the ballot. There were also claims that another candidate, Richard Lyman, had been paid to put his own name on the ballot in an effort to confuse voters and take numbers away from Phil Lyman. Governor Cox and his campaign were accused as the masterminds behind this operation. This allegation, coupled with discontent over Governor Cox’s less-than-Republican legislative choices, were major motivators for the Phil Lyman campaign.
Phil Lyman has been known to be a political spitfire long before this last election cycle; he is well-known for his protest against the Utah BLM in May of 2014, organizing an ATV protest ride in Recapture Canyon, and now asking to investigate the 2024 Gubernatorial election process and results. However, it should be encouraging to all Americans to see that even a write-in campaign can be big enough to make a splash. We are eager to see what Lyman has planned in the coming years.
Written by: Emma Wilson
Contributor at the Cougar Chronicle
The Cougar Chronicle is an independent student-run newspaper and is not affiliated with Brigham Young University or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Cover photo: https://www.ksl.com/article/50770018/state-rep-phil-lyman-announces-run-for-governor
