Trump’s endorsement – President Donald Trump’s Truth Social endorsement of Rep. Celeste Maloy puts her race against former legislator Phil Lyman in the spotlight—at a moment when Lyman’s past federal conviction and Trump pardon have helped him build fierce loyalty in Utah’s new, po
Last Wednesday night, President Donald Trump didn’t just comment on a Utah contest—he stepped into it. On Truth Social, he endorsed incumbent Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) for Congress. writing. “Celeste has a strong Record of Success. and resounding support from her Community. ” and adding. “SHE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”.
Maloy’s opponent, former state legislator Phil Lyman, carries his own MAGA credibility—and, in this part of Utah, the real momentum may come from a Trump decision of his own. In 2020, Trump pardoned Lyman for an old conviction for illegally riding an ATV on public lands.
In a mostly rural district populated by Sagebrush Rebellion supporters, that pardon can read like a kind of proof. “He absolutely could win,” Bryan Schott, founder of the online news site Utah Political Watch, said of Lyman. “He is a true iconoclast. His supporters are very passionate.”
Lyman’s reputation didn’t appear out of nowhere. Back in May 2014. then a San Juan County commissioner. he organized a protest against the Bureau of Land Management for banning motorized vehicles in Utah’s Recapture Canyon. The canyon had been closed since 2007 to protect prehistoric archeological sites. Just weeks before the protest. Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy had led an armed standoff with the BLM after it attempted to impound his cows that were illegally grazing on federal land. That standoff helped spark a wave of anti-government activism across the West, including in Utah.
During the protest, Lyman and others—including Bundy’s son Ryan—illegally rode ATVs through the fragile canyon. Lyman was prosecuted for riding off-road vehicles on closed roads. A federal jury convicted him of two misdemeanors. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail and three years of probation, and ordered to pay nearly $96,000 in restitution.
The case hardened him rather than sidelining him. The prosecution turned an unrepentant Lyman into something of a local folk hero for facing off with the federal government. which owns 64 percent of the land in Utah. Utah Republicans of all stripes backed him—then-Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox among them. Gov. Gary Herbert even tried to use $100,000 in state tax money to pay for Lyman’s appeal. When that failed, Republican politicians pledged thousands of dollars of their own money for Lyman’s legal fees.
Cox said, after adding $1,000 to a pile of cash collected by lawmakers at a meeting in the state capitol, “We are proud to support one of our own.” He added, “Commissioner Lyman is one of the finest individuals I know.”
Lyman lost his appeal. But in 2020, after urging from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Trump pardoned him. White House officials wrote that “Mr. Lyman is known to be a man of integrity and character,” and suggested he’d been a victim of selective prosecution.
Lyman’s political identity has kept evolving from there. In 2018, his notoriety propelled him into the state legislature. He was a member of the Yellowcake Caucus, a group of conservative legislators from rural counties known for uranium mining. During the extreme drought in 2022—when many state Republicans were taking steps to keep Great Salt Lake from drying up—Lyman organized a meeting at the state Capitol to expose what his caucus considered the real culprit behind the lake’s plight. “Trees are the enemy,” said one witness, suggesting that trees sucked up too much water. Lyman was lobbying legislators to devote money to tree-thinning projects rather than forcing alfalfa farmers to conserve.
Then in 2024, Lyman launched an upstart campaign to run against incumbent Republican Gov. Spencer Cox. Cox had even contributed to Lyman’s legal defense earlier. During the governor’s race. Lyman attacked Cox’s signature initiative. Disagree Better. created by Cox when he led the National Governors Association to encourage people to dial back polarizing rhetoric. The program earned Cox national applause, but Lyman turned it into a target in Utah.
At an event the source attended in 2024. Lyman told the crowd that Cox’s initiative is “predicated on a lie.” He said the effort relies on the idea that “you either agree with me. or you disagree with me on my terms. And that’s what’s happening right now in this in this state and this election with Governor Cox.” He argued the broader push was “a leftist. Marxist tactic to get people to drop their opinions. It’s manipulation to silence them.” He insisted the whole enterprise might work if “people on the other side would tell the truth. ” adding. “Then maybe. ” he said. “we could disagree better.”.
Lyman lost the GOP primary for governor and then ran as a write-in candidate in the November general election. which he also lost. He didn’t stop. He filed challenges and lawsuits against various state officials, trying to prove that Cox had stolen the election. The strategy fit with his broader presence in the “election integrity” movement that grew from Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Lyman even appeared at events with My Pillow executive Mike Lindell promoting fraudulent election conspiracy theories.
For voters deciding whether to back Maloy or Lyman now. the distance between them may feel smaller than it looks on paper—especially on federal control of public lands. a hot-button issue in the district. Lyman protested in Recapture Canyon with the Bundys in 2014. Maloy’s family ties reach into the same world: she is Cliven Bundy’s niece by marriage and a cousin of Ammon Bundy. Cliven’s son who staged an armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016.
Maloy’s own political footing is newer. She grew up in a small town in Nevada, but attended college and law school in Utah. She first won office in a special election in 2023 to fill the remaining term of retiring Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah), for whom she’d worked as an attorney. Even then, Maloy faced a tougher path than an establishment-backed candidate typically does. In the three-way primary, she barely made it through.
A challenger sued unsuccessfully to keep Maloy off the primary ballot. arguing she was ineligible because her voter registration in Utah was inactive before she filed and that she hadn’t voted in the state in 2020 or 2022. The claim was tied to her living situation: as a Hill staffer she had been living in Virginia. but Maloy said she was using her sister’s address in Cedar City as her permanent residence. She prevailed and remained on the ballot. Even after that, cousin Ammon endorsed someone else in the race.
When Maloy sought her first full term in 2024. Trump backed her. as did most of the Utah congressional delegation—except Sen. Mike Lee, who supported one of her opponents. Maloy still won the GOP primary by only 176 votes, less than one percent. This year, she has an 8-1 fundraising advantage over Lyman. Yet at the GOP nominating convention in April, Maloy barely bested him.
Utah candidates have two main routes to reach the primary ballot: collecting petition signatures or winning enough delegate votes at a state nominating convention. Lyman thrived with convention delegates, who tend to be more MAGA than other Republicans. When he ran for governor in 2024, convention delegates overwhelmingly voted for him over Cox, whom they booed.
Lyman’s governor run didn’t end in a win, but it came with a closer margin than expected—less than 9 points. This year, Maloy beat Lyman at the convention by a razor-thin spread: 50.9 to 49.09 percent. Both candidates advanced to the June 23rd primary.
That date lands in a district defined by disruption. The 3rd district congressional race may be surprisingly close because the district was redrawn this year in response to a court order ending partisan gerrymandering. Maloy previously represented the 2nd district and switched to the new 3rd after redistricting. The 3rd district includes many more counties that Lyman won handily in his statewide race against Cox.
Schott’s math adds another reason for uncertainty: 60 percent of registered Republicans in the district have never seen Maloy on a ballot, despite this being her fifth election in three years. “If Lyman wins the congressional primary,” Schott said, “it’s because people know him.”
Polling is limited. Prediction markets suggest Maloy will crush Lyman. But the contest is likely to turn on turnout, and on the difference in political energy each candidate can mobilize. Schott described Lyman as “a partisan warrior” and Maloy as “a technocrat.” He added, “Partisan warriors inspire people to vote.”.
Maloy hasn’t gone out of her way to reach moderate voters who could be inclined to break away from Lyman’s base. In this rural. red district. tourism has become a growth industry since President Clinton created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument 30 years ago. over objections from many local officials who would prefer it be turned into a coal mine.
Blake Spalding is one of the two founding executive chefs of the award-winning Hell’s Backbone Grill & Farm in Boulder. Utah. and co-owner of Boulder Mountain Lodge next door. Located inside the monument. the operation is among the largest private employers in Garfield County. which is in Maloy’s district. Spalding said Maloy has never been there—and he said she’s voting for Lyman.
“It’s not like I love Phil Lyman,” Spalding explained. “And he has definitely never eaten in my restaurant.” Spalding. a longtime public lands advocate. said he understands both Lyman and Maloy are hostile to federal protections for Grand Staircase. Still, he said, “it’s better not to vote for Trump- endorsed candidates, and Trump endorsed Celeste.”.
For the November general election, Spalding said he would vote for a Democrat. “I’m gonna vote for whoever is going to do the best job for the hummingbirds.”
Even if prediction markets lean one way. the story on the ground is about loyalty built through conflict—through a federal prosecution. a courtroom fight that ended in jail and probation. and a Trump pardon that rebranded Lyman as a victim of selective prosecution. Trump’s endorsement of Maloy may have intended to settle the debate. In Utah’s 3rd district. it has instead sharpened it—right down to the question voters like Spalding are asking at the register: not just who has the better résumé. but who they believe Trump’s hand is supposed to protect.
Utah politics Celeste Maloy Phil Lyman Donald Trump Truth Social GOP primary June 23 pardoned Bureau of Land Management Recapture Canyon Sagebrush Rebellion Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Spencer Cox Mike Lee Jason Chaffetz