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الوسم: Gov

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

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

    SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is expected 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.

    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.

  • GOP Gov. Jim Justice battles Democrat Glenn Elliott for US Senate seat from West Virginia

    GOP Gov. Jim Justice battles Democrat Glenn Elliott for US Senate seat from West Virginia

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Voters in ruby red West Virginia will decide Tuesday whether a U.S. Senate seat will flip to Republican.

    Two-term GOP Gov. Jim Justice faced Democratic former Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott for the right to succeed Sen. Joe Manchin. Manchin decided not to seek reelection and switched from Democrat to independent earlier this year. Before he changed parties, Manchin was the only Democrat holding statewide office.

    Republicans have not held both of the state’s U.S. Senate seats since 1958.

    Justice boldly declared himself the winner more than a month before the election.

    The 73-year-old Justice hoped to continue taking advantage of former President Donald Trump’s popularity in West Virginia. Trump won the presidential race in the state by 42 percentage points in 2016 and 39 points in 2020. Justice was elected governor as a Democrat in 2016, then switched to the GOP seven months after entering office, taking the stage at an event with Trump to make the announcement.

    More than a month before the election, Justice declared himself the winner and said he saw no need to debate Elliott. Justice pointed out that he easily won his primary over U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney despite not putting up any election signs.

    While Elliott embarked on a tour of all 55 counties this summer, Justice conducted few campaign stops, instead making economic development announcements in his capacity as governor, bringing along his pet English bulldog, Babydog. Justice also mixed in political talk during his weekly online media briefings, often criticizing President Joe Biden’s policies.

    A former billionaire, Justice and his family own dozens of businesses, including the posh Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. Justice spent considerable time as governor addressing court challenges that sought late business payments and fines.

    Elliott, a 52-year-old lawyer who once served as a legislative assistant to the late U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, said he’s a Democrat because of an intrinsic identification with “the underdog,” and a belief that unions built the American middle class and separated the U.S. economy from other nations in the mid-20th century.

    Polls statewide open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.