SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Utah Governor Spencer Cox has been in the national spotlight since the assassination of Charlie Kirk took place in his state and so has his brand of politics expressed in a project he launched in 2023 called Disagree Better. That means engaging in debates with curiosity and respect for the other side. But that can be a hard line to hold, as Caroline Ballard with member station KUER in Salt Lake City reports.
CAROLINE BALLARD, BYLINE: Republican Spencer Cox first ran for governor in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. He appeared in an ad with his Democratic opponent, pledging to run a civil campaign.
(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD, "ONE NATION")
CHRIS PETERSON: My name's Chris Peterson.
SPENCER COX: And I'm Spencer Cox, and...
CHRIS PETERSON AND SPENCER COX: ...We approve this message.
BALLARD: When people protesting COVID restrictions came to his home in rural Utah, his family greeted them with hot chocolate and cookies. Damon Cann is a political science professor at Utah State University.
DAMON CANN: This kind of civic-minded approach reflects the way Governor Cox really tries to think about politics and genuinely the way he hopes more people will think about politics.
BALLARD: As governor, Cox promoted COVID vaccines and masks. He vetoed a bill banning transgender girls from school sports, and he said he didn't vote for President Trump in 2016 or 2020. At the 2024 Utah GOP convention, Cox was booed by his fellow Republicans as he got to the podium.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Boo.
COX: I love you guys.
BALLARD: One of his challengers, Carson Jorgensen, called out Cox's Disagree Better platform in his floor speech.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CARSON JORGENSEN: So why wander down the middle of the road? Don't vote for me if you want to disagree better. Vote for me if you know we better disagree.
BALLARD: Cox has appeared more combative as he's held office. He's also signed some transgender restrictions. And after the July 2024 attempted assassination of Trump, Cox did publicly endorse him. All the while he has warned about political violence. Here he is a couple years ago, after a local official was assaulted.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
COX: If we don't wake up as a society, if we don't stop playing with fire, we could end up in a very dark place.
BALLARD: Then last week, when announcing to the country that Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin had been caught, Cox returned to the theme.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
COX: We can return violence with violence. We can return hate with hate. But see, these are choices that we can make. History will dictate if this is a turning point for our country. But every single one of us gets to choose right now if this is a turning point for us.
BALLARD: Now the scrutiny is heightened. He was pressed on NBC about Trump blaming radical leftists soon after the shooting. He said the president was angry. One Utah Democrat, State Senator Nate Blouin, accused Cox of using the moment for his own political advantage. As for the future of Disagree Better, political science professor Cann says it's in the hands of voters.
CANN: Who face a choice between different approaches to politics in both primary and general elections in 2026 and in 2028, and then we'll see whether this moment ends up having cascading effects in terms of what politics looks like moving forward.
BALLARD: Cann says politicians can only go as far as voters allow. Cox, who's only 50, has said he doesn't plan to run for governor again when his second term is up. That's in 2028. For NPR News, I'm Caroline Ballard in Salt Lake City.
(SOUNDBITE OF TIWA SAVAGE SONG, "LOST TIME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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