Spencer Cox

Join us for Access Utah on Tuesday: the opening day of the 2021 session of the Utah Legislature. We’ll be talking to Governor Spencer Cox and legislative leaders, including House Assistant Minority Whip, Rep. Angela Romero; and Senate Majority and Minority Whips, Sen. Ann Milner and Sen. Luz Escamilla, respectively. And we hear some of the priorities of our listeners as we head into this legislative session.

In an effort to speed up Utah’s COVID-19 vaccination process, and hopefully led to the state receiving more doses of the vaccine, Gov. Spencer Cox issued an executive order regarding vaccine distribution on Friday. 

This week Governor- elect Spencer Cox and Lt. Governor- elect Deidre Henderson announced some key appointments for their upcoming team. One of these appointments is part of Cox’s effort to reach out to rural Utah.

After Spencer Cox was elected as the state’s new governor, he, along with running mate Deidre Henderson, and Gov. Gary Herbert outlined transition plans at a Thursday press conference.

As was expected, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox won Utah’s gubernatorial race on Tuesday evening. Due to COVID-19, he and his running mate Senator Diedre Henderson addressed supporters through Facebook Live from Fairview, Utah. 

On Tuesday new campaign ads for Utah’s gubernatorial race began circulating online. The ads—paid for in part by Republican candidate Spencer Cox’s campaign—feature both Cox and Democratic candidate Chris Peterson speaking about shared values and urging Utahns to choose civility.

One of the first questions candidate Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox (R) and Chris Peterson (D) answered during Tuesday’s gubernatorial debate was whether they would issue a statewide mask mandate right now if they had the power to do so. 

Outside the State House on Tuesday afternoon, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox characterized his campaign as that of an underdog. 

“When we started this journey over a year ago, we certainly received some criticism from the experts. They told us we started too early. They told us we couldn’t win with a novice 25-year old campaign manager,” said Cox. 

Tuesday’s Republican primary had some big surprises and some races were too close to call, with a significant number of vote-by-mail ballots outstanding.

Utahns have started receiving their ballots for the June 30 primary, but who the frontrunners will be in the Republican race for governor may not match the polls.

Monday night the four Republican candidates in Utah's gubernatorial race debated some of the most pressing issues for rural Utahns. 

Senator Deidre Henderson began her political career over a decade ago when she worked on Jason Chaffez’s congressional campaign. In 2012 she was elected to represent Utah Senate District 7 and now she will be adding something else to her political resume-- candidate for lieutenant governor.

As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, or novel coronavirus, continues to grow in the United States, state officials in Utah have created a task force to determine how to best mitigate the spread of the virus locally

On Monday morning, volunteers from Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox’s campaign turned in over 29,000 signatures to put Cox on the ballot for Utah’s governor in 2020.  

The race for Utah’s open gubernatorial seat is getting crowded. Six candidates have already declared their intent to gather signatures with other high profile individuals expected to announce their decisions by the end of the month.

On Tuesday, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. resigned from his post as United States Ambassador to Russia and is predicted to run for governor again in 2020.  Recent polling for the gubernatorial election provides early insight on the preferences of Utah voters, specifically for candidates Huntsman and Spencer Cox.

Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox was at Utah State University Wednesday to speak at a trauma and resiliency conference. While he did not bring the big green “Vote Cox” campaign bus, the frontrunner candidate answered questions for the reasons why he wants to be the next governor of Utah.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints comes out against an LGBTQ rights bill in Congress. In a separate move, the faith announces a plan to increase political participation on the part of its members. And Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox launches his gubernatorial campaign.  At 9 a.m. on Friday, Salt Lake Tribune government and politics editor Dan Harrie, reporter Courtney Tanner, and columnist George Pyle join KCPW's Roger McDonough to talk about the week's top stories. Every Friday at 9 a.m., tune in to Utah Public Radio for the broadcast.

“One of the things we wanted to do was really help clarify what is the role of faith leaders?" said Kimberly Myers, the state suicide prevention coordinator. "What are the resources that faith leaders can use when the problem is beyond their scope? And then, what are some core considerations for when there is a death in their community, how they can play that vital role in promoting healing and promoting support?" 

A 100,000-square-foot clinic is opening in Logan. The Sorenson Legacy Foundation Center for Clinical Excellence is designed to serve as many as 5,000 clients of varying abilities each year.

A ceremonial bill signing this week will feature multiple bills related to mental health and suicide prevention.