It’s unconventional for the president of the United States to weigh in on a state Republican chairman election. But President Donald Trump did just that when he endorsed sitting Utah Republican Party Chairman Robert Axson ahead of the May 17 GOP organizing convention.
That’s when roughly 4,000 delegates will choose between Axson and Phil Lyman, a former state representative and gubernatorial candidate, to lead the party.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, the president called Axson a “fantastic chairman” who has “dedicated his life to the Republican Party and The Great State of Utah.” He added that Axson is supported by Republican Sen. Mike Lee and Gov. Spencer Cox.
“Robert Axson has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election as Chairman of the Utah Republican Party — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” Trump wrote.
Trump’s backing of Axson over Lyman for party chair is a strategic move with national and local implications.
Ameila Powers-Gardner, a campaign consultant and manager for several elected Republicans before being elected Utah County Commissioner, wasn’t surprised when Trump piped up in a state race.
“When you look at the stronghold that Utah is for the Republican Party, especially as we head into a very important [midterm] election, it starts to make more sense,” she said.
Damon Cann, head of the political science department at Utah State University, said a state chair plays a significant role in politics, speaking and acting on behalf of the party. But probably most importantly, Cann said, is that they have the power to select and advance GOP candidates for office. In a deep red state like Utah, they are incredibly influential, especially when many candidates appear on a primary ballot.
“They could try to pick and choose which Republicans the party is going to support and which ones the party might leave high and dry,” he said.
While it’s unclear why Trump decided to throw his backing behind Axson, Cann and Powers-Gardner have different perspectives on it. They agree it likely has nothing to do with who supports the president more. Both candidates are fiercely loyal to Trump.
Axson and Lyman, however, have different approaches. Axson is considered a coalition builder who can rally different flavors of Republicans. Lyman is considered a firebrand who has advocated for a purer definition of the party.
Axson, according to Powers-Gardner, has done a great job shepherding the full range of Utah Republicans, from the far right to more moderate voices. Plus, she said Axson has done the work to organize and mobilize the party. She believes Trump’s endorsement is a result of that and his dedication to helping the president win in 2024 by sending Utah Republicans to canvass in swing states.
“Having a strong Republican Party in Utah shows the world this type of leadership,” Powers-Gardner said. “It allows us to help and assist our neighbors that are maybe swing states.”
On the other hand, embracing the big tent is not a skill she thinks Lyman possesses. She said he has “burned so many bridges” that if he were to win, there would be even larger factions in the party.
“I think the president weighing in on the race will change the energy a little bit because I think you had the Phil Lyman supporters thinking that they were saving the Republican Party,” she said. “I think with the head of the Republican Party, i.e., our Republican president, weighing in on this race, I think it does shift the dynamic.”
Cann is a little more skeptical. He isn’t convinced Axson’s track record had much to do with his endorsement. Trump also endorsed the incumbent GOP chairs in Georgia and Delaware, as well as in North Carolina, where the chair is running unopposed. Rather, he thinks someone close to Trump is advocating for Axson.
But Cann does believe Axson deserves credit for the direction he has taken the party. It’s in the best interest of the president to have strong state Republican parties with leadership that help their candidates get elected at all levels of government.
“Lyman has signaled that he has reservations about doing that, that there are some kind of Republicans he might not want to have around in the party,” Cann said. “That could have some consequences and it can make the Republican Party a tougher place to be and it can lead some people to step outside the party.”
At the very least, Trump doesn’t want to see the Republican Party membership trend downward.
Lyman gained notoriety after Trump pardoned him for organizing an ATV protest on federally protected land. Since then, the staunch conservative has challenged party nominees, namely Gov. Spencer Cox, over winning the state GOP primary election. While Lyman won more than 60% of the delegate vote at the nominating convention in 2024, he lost to Cox in the primary. Lyman then led a write-in campaign and appeared in a campaign video with the Democratic candidate for governor to persuade people not to vote for Cox. He also sued the state and Axson over the primary results, although his case was tossed out by the Utah Supreme Court.
“We've always had a chair who supported our Republican nominees. Period,” Powers-Gardner said. “If that nominee happened to not win convention, he [Lyman] is openly saying he will not support them. Will not call them a Republican. That's where the dynamic changes.”
It should be noted that in 2024, the majority of convention picks lost their primary elections.
In Lyman’s current bid to become chair, he has vowed to help repeal and not work within the confines of SB54, the law that provides a dual path to the primary ballot. If, as party hair, he were to not certify the Utah GOP as a “qualified political party,” it could hinder convention winners from accessing the primary ballot at all. As the law is written, Republicans either accept the dual path or they risk losing the caucus convention system altogether. But Lyman has said the party should not support candidates if they take the signature-gathering route.
“Lyman signaled that there are certain kinds of Republicans that he would not support under any circumstance,” Cann said, “and one of them happens to be the current governor of Utah.”
There is also a party resolution that would temporarily revoke Republican Party status from candidates who land on the primary ballot through the signature gathering process rather than winning the delegate vote.
Lyman and Axson did not respond to KUER’s interview request.
Overall, the endorsement could sway a certain kind of delegate. To Powers-Gardner, that means people on the fence on who to vote for. To Cann, it gives those who supported Lyman for governor permission not to support him as party chair.
“I think the outcome of this race on Saturday is going to come down to this division between pragmatic approaches to party leadership versus ideologically purist orientations towards leadership of the party,” Cann said.
