Utah governor says ‘no deal’ made with gubernatorial candidate

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert addresses the evolving economic situation associated with COVID-19 at the Capitol in Salt Lake City in this file photo. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News

But Herbert acknowledges he asked Thomas Wright to drop out and support Spencer Cox

SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday “there’s no deal been made” with gubernatorial candidate Thomas Wright, but he acknowledged that he asked Wright to drop out of the race and support his chosen successor, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox.

Herbert said, however, he did not attempt to induce Wright to drop out of the governor’s race. There have been reports that the governor also urged the former Utah GOP chairman to run instead for Sen. Mike Lee’s seat in 2022 during their discussions.

But the governor answered “no and no” when asked whether he offered any inducements to Wright as well as if he believed he was exposed to a possible violation of a state law prohibiting rewarding someone for either staying or getting out of a political race.

He was not asked directly whether the upcoming Senate race was talked about.

“I’m an unabashed, enthusiastic supporter of Spencer Cox. I think he’d make a fantastic governor. I think we have a lot of good people running. The other three candidates are very capable and good also,” Herbert told reporters during a COVID-19 briefing.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Former Utah GOP Chairman Thomas Wright speaks during a virtual forum featuring the Republican primary gubernatorial candidates at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City on Thursday, May 7, 2020.

Herbert said he first went to Wright last year to solicit support for Cox’s run for governor.

“He thought about it,” the governor said, but decided to run for governor himself.

“Again, he’s a capable guy. That’s not really a surprise to me. But he ran and I know that we all know how the process works and some fall by the wayside.”

Wright, he said, “didn’t do as well in convention. His poll numbers were down and so as happens typically with campaigns, it’s time to reevaluate and reassess. So I took that opportunity to talk to my friend Thomas Wright and see what his evaluation was, what was his plans going forward. And I suggested to him, as I’ve suggested in the last year, maybe you ought to consider supporting Spencer Cox for governor.”

Herbert said that’s “not an untypical thing as the field gets narrowed and winnowed and people then start endorsing others that maybe have a better chance of winning. We saw that four years ago with Donald Trump,” as well as in this year’s Democratic presidential race.

“We talked about that possibility. He was attentive. At the end of the day, he said, ‘I think I know I’m a long shot but I want to stay the course and continue on this journey.’ He said, ‘I think I can win.’ In fact, he used a golf analogy, ‘I think I can hit 10 birdies in a row,’“ the governor said.

“So he knows he’s a long shot but he thought he could win so he decided to stay the course,” Herbert said. “So there’s no deal been made.”

The governor, who is not seeking reelection after more than a decade in office, said he and Wright have been friends for 14 years and have “talked about politics many times over the years. He’s talked about his desire to run for office and things within the Republican Party. ... We’ve had multiple, multiple conversations on other things.”

The story will be updated throughout the day.

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