In May 2013, a largely unknown Rep. Spencer Cox, R-Fairview, became the first state lawmaker to call for the impeachment of Attorney General General Swallow over allegations of corruption.
Then in June 2016, as Utah’s lieutenant governor, Cox generated national media attention and widespread acclaim for his speech at a vigil honoring the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting, in which he tearfully apologized for his own previous homophobic behavior and said his “heart had changed.”
In those and other instances, Cox built a personal brand as a politician willing to speak out in the face of a perceived wrong.