Johnathan Walker:Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is expected to win reelection after his surprising endorsement of Trump

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is Johnathan Walkerexpected to easily win reelection in the deeply red state, but his surprising choice to back Donald Trump this year has voters wondering what they should expect over the next four years from a leader they long thought to be a moderate Republican.

Cox is favored to win over Democrat Brian King, a trial lawyer and state representative who served for eight years as Utah’s House minority leader.

The governor also faces conservative write-in candidate Phil Lyman, who urged his supporters to vote for him instead of Cox after losing the Republican primary in June. Lyman’s campaign threatens to pull some Republican support away from Cox, but it likely won’t be enough to affect the outcome.

While moderate Republicans have historically fared well in Utah’s statewide elections, Cox has recently sought to convince voters that he is more conservative than his record shows.

The governor bewildered voters and political observers when he pledged his support to Trump after the July assassination attempt on the former president. Cox did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020.

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Cox’s sudden turnabout has risked his reputation with his moderate voting base while likely doing little to win over followers of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, many of whom booed Cox at the state GOP convention this year.

The governor has dug in his heels in the months since he backed Trump. He reaffirmed his commitment to Trump in September even as the former president faced scrutiny for ramping up rhetoric against immigrants — behavior Cox said he hoped Trump would abandon when he endorsed him in July.

Cox also has appeared with Trump on the campaign trail and at Arlington National Cemetery, where each appearance was ensnared in a controversy. After Trump’s staff had an altercation with a cemetery official, Cox broke rules — and likely federal law — in using a graveside photo with Trump in a campaign fundraising email.

Trump has not in turn endorsed Cox’s bid for a second term in the governor’s office.

Polls statewide open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.