Spencer Cox Net Worth, Family, wife, Education, Children, Age, Biography, Political Career

Spencer Cox Biography

Spencer James Cox is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 18th governor of Utah since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Cox served as the eighth lieutenant governor of Utah from 2013 to 2021.

Cox was raised and lives in Fairview, Utah. He was elected to the city council in 2004 and mayorship the next year. After overseeing rural economic development in Fairview, Cox was elected a county commissioner for Sanpete County in 2008. He was elected to the Utah House of Representatives in 2012.

In October 2013, Governor Gary Herbert selected Cox to replace Greg Bell as Lieutenant Governor; he was confirmed unanimously by the Utah State Senate. Cox was elected to the lieutenant governorship as Herberts running mate in 2016. In 2020, after Herbert decided to retire, Cox sought the Republican nomination for governor. He defeated former governor Jon Huntsman Jr., former Utah GOP chair Thomas Wright, and former Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes in the primary election and Democratic nominee Chris Peterson in the general election.

Spencer Cox Net Worth

Spencer Cox Net Worth is $ 1 to 5 Million in 2022.

Spencer Cox Family, Parents

Cox is the oldest of eight children and grew up on a farm in Fairview. Coxs father, Eddie, served on the Utah Transportation Commission and was also a Sanpete County commissioner.

Spencer Cox Wife, Children

He and his wife, Abby, have four children, and reside on their family farm in Fairview.

Spencer Cox Career and Achievement

After law school, Cox clerked for Judge Ted Stewart of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. After his clerkship, Cox joined Fabian and Clendenin, a Salt Lake City law firm. He returned to rural Utah and became a vice president of CentraCom.

Political Career

Cox was elected as a city councilor of Fairview, Utah in 2004 and mayor the next year. In 2008, he was elected as a Sanpete County commissioner. Cox was elected to the Utah House of Representatives in 2012 and became the first member to call for the impeachment of John Swallow, the attorney general of Utah, over violations of campaign finance laws. Cox and Lieutenant Governor Bell served as co-chairs of Governor Herberts Rural Partnership Board.

Lieutenant Governor of Utah

2016 General Election

Tenure

In October 2013, Herbert selected Cox to succeed Bell as lieutenant governor following Bells resignation. The Utah Senates Government Operations Confirmation Committee unanimously approved his nomination on October 15. The next day, the full Utah Senate confirmed him unanimously and he was sworn in. As lieutenant governor, Cox produced a report on Swallows financial interests, demonstrating that Swallow had failed to properly disclose all of his income and business interests. Swallow resigned before the reports release. In 2016, Cox was elected lieutenant governor as Herberts running mate.

Governor of Utah

On May 14, 2019, after Herbert announced that he would not seek reelection, Cox announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor of Utah in 2020. Cox won the Republican primary with 36.4% of the vote; former Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. received 34.6%. Cox defeated Chris Peterson, the Democratic Party nominee, in the November general election. In a break with tradition, Coxs January 4, 2021, inauguration (with precautions against the COVID-19 pandemic) was held at the Tuacahn Center for the Arts in Ivins, Utah, a small town in Washington County. The stated purpose of this move was to express Coxs desire to be governor for the entire state as opposed to focusing on the Wasatch Front region. Within days of his inauguration, he opened an office on Southern Utah Universitys Cedar City campus.

Cox said early on that increasing the speed of the states vaccine distribution was his administrations top priority. Utah has administered more than 85% of the doses that it has received, according to CDC data.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Utah, Cox faced criticism for the states decision to award millions of dollars in no-bid contracts in the early days of the crisis and for the controversial purchase of an anti-malaria drug as a possible treatment for COVID-19. Cox says he had no role in approving the $800,000 hydroxychloroquine order, which was later canceled.

Cox has vetoed four bills as of 2021, all of which were Republican-backed (the Utah Legislature has a Republican super-majority). His first veto was of a bill sponsored by his brother-in-law, Senator Mike McKell, which sought to regulate the way social media platforms moderate content. Cox also vetoed Senate Bill 187: Local Education Agency Policies Amendments, sponsored by Ronald Winterton; Senate Bill 39: Hemp Regulation Amendments, sponsored by David Hinkins and House Bill 98: Local Government Building Regulation Amendments, sponsored by Paul Ray.

Read Also : About Tony Evers