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Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has been pushing to lower the political temperature for years. But never has he faced a moment more fraught 鈥� and more high-profile 鈥� than when he stepped to the podium Friday.

With national TV cameras rolling, Governor Cox announced that police had caught the suspected assassin who killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk in his state two days earlier. Even as some members of his Republican Party turned quickly to blame their political opponents, he offered a starkly different message.

鈥淲e will never be able to solve all the other problems, including the violence problems that people are worried about, if we can鈥檛 have a clash of ideas safely and securely, even especially, especially, those ideas with which you disagree,鈥� said Mr. Cox. 鈥淲e can always point the finger at the other side. And at some point, we have to find an off-ramp, or it鈥檚 going to get much, much worse.鈥�

At a time of increasingly divisive politics in America, Utah鈥檚 two-term governor has made 鈥渇inding an off-ramp鈥� his signature issue. During his chairmanship of the National Governors Association last year, he launched the Disagree Better initiative, which aimed to show the 鈥渞ight kind of conflict鈥� and to 鈥渁ttack ideas, not people鈥� through debates and research.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, has worked closely with Mr. Cox on that initiative. The two spoke at an event promoting bipartisanship just last week.

鈥淎s a friend, I鈥檓 devastated that he had to deal with this ... but as an American, I thank God that it is Spencer Cox who鈥檚 helping to lead us through,鈥� Governor Moore told the Monitor after the shooting. 鈥淪pencer is uniquely built for this. He is a deeply good and humane person.鈥�

Mr. Cox was one of the first people to reach out when Baltimore鈥檚 Key Bridge collapsed last year, killing six people, and Mr. Moore said he called him immediately after Mr. Kirk鈥檚 assassination to offer his prayers, and has talked to him each day since.

What kind of watershed?

Political violence in America has seemed to only build, from assassination attempts against President Donald Trump last year to the killing of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, in June. The fatal shooting of Mr. Kirk, while he was debating at Utah Valley University in Orem, has thrust the Utah governor into the national spotlight.

Thus far, Mr. Cox鈥檚 push to find an off-ramp from political violence through dialogue has yet to find a strong footing, as other GOP leaders from President Trump on down have taken a much harsher partisan tone. The question now is, Will Mr. Kirk鈥檚 killing be the kind of watershed moment that the governor hopes it can be, rather than a turn toward more violence?

鈥淗opefully, a lesson to be learned from this assassination is that we can all grow and become better people,鈥� says former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, who chose Mr. Cox as his lieutenant governor in 2013 and now runs a public policy institute at the university where Mr. Kirk was killed. 鈥淲ouldn鈥檛 it be nice if this is an inflection point where we say, 鈥榊ou know what? Enough of this political rhetoric is so mean and demeaning and frustrating for everybody.鈥� It creates more anger and more divisiveness, and it鈥檚 like pouring gasoline on the fire. We ought to get away from that and start treating each other better, and that鈥檚 what [Mr. Cox] is saying.鈥�

The immediate responses to Mr. Kirk鈥檚 assassination from some of Mr. Cox鈥檚 Republican colleagues took a sharply different tone. Some Republicans in Congress have blamed the shooting on Democrats, and in a four-minute video address from the Oval Office Wednesday evening, President Trump said the rhetoric of the 鈥渞adical left鈥� was 鈥渄irectly responsible for the terrorism that we鈥檙e seeing in our country today.鈥� On Thursday, Texas Rep. Chip Roy, along with two dozen colleagues in the U.S. House, sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson requesting to form a special committee to investigate 鈥渢he radical left鈥檚 assault on America and the rule of law.鈥� And again on Friday morning while on 鈥淔ox & Friends,鈥� Mr. Trump dismissed the notion from an interviewer that there are political extremists on both sides of the political aisle, arguing that 鈥渢he radicals on the left are the problem.鈥�

Mr. Cox鈥檚 call for unity Friday morning drew more praise from Democrats than from Republicans. David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, posted on the social platform X that he had 鈥渟uch respect鈥� for the governor鈥檚 鈥渉eartfelt, thoughtful plea.鈥� Governor Moore said that he鈥檚 urging people to 鈥渓isten to Spencer Cox, because Spencer Cox is the one who is urging us to be better.鈥�

But Steve Bannon, a close ally of President Trump鈥檚, who had described Mr. Kirk as 鈥渁 casualty of war,鈥� said he was 鈥渦nderwhelmed鈥� by the governor鈥檚 response, and that now was not a time for 鈥渉appy talk.鈥�

But focusing on the rhetoric of politicians wasn鈥檛 at the core of the governor鈥檚 plea Friday, in which he sought to put the current moment on the shoulders of the American public.

鈥淗istory will dictate if this is a turning point for our country,鈥� said Mr. Cox. 鈥淏ut every single one of us gets to choose right now if this is a turning point for us.鈥�

Cox鈥檚 rise 鈥� and political evolution

Mr. Cox began his political career in local government in his hometown of Fairview, Utah, a city of about 1,200 people in the middle of the state where he owns a farm started by his great-great-great-grandfather. Shortly after he was elected to the Utah House of Representatives, Mr. Cox was appointed lieutenant governor in 2013 by then-Governor Herbert, before winning reelection as the state鈥檚 No. 2 in 2016.

When Mr. Cox ran for the governorship himself in 2020, he narrowly won the Republican primary against former Utah governor and presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, before easily winning the general election in a state that hasn鈥檛 elected a Democratic governor since the early 1980s. The most notable moment of the campaign was a campaign video he shot jointly with his Democratic opponent advocating political civility. Mr. Cox easily won reelection in 2024, and has said this election will be his last despite the fact that Utah doesn鈥檛 have term limits.

He鈥檚 part of a long tradition of Utah Republicans 鈥� including former Governors Herbert, Huntsman, and Mike Leavitt; former Sen. Mitt Romney; and current Sen. John Curtis 鈥� whose conservatism is tempered, especially in tone, by a more civil, tolerant, and bipartisan approach heavily influenced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

But Utah鈥檚 more respectful, straight-laced politics have begun to fray in recent years, along with the rest of the nation鈥檚. Conservative firebrand Mike Lee鈥檚 2010 Senate victory in the Beehive State over a moderate Republican helped kick off the tea party movement. While Utah Republicans rebelled against Mr. Trump during his first run for office, they鈥檝e moved gradually toward him.

Rather than vote for his party鈥檚 presidential nominee, Mr. Trump, in 2016 or 2020, Mr. Cox says he wrote in candidates for the top of the ballot, and he called on Mr. Trump to resign for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. After initially saying he would not vote for Mr. Trump again in 2024, Mr. Cox changed his mind after the president was shot while holding a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024. He sent Mr. Trump a letter, praising the 鈥渉umility鈥� that the president showed after the shooting 鈥� 鈥渁 side of you most of us have not seen,鈥� he wrote 鈥� when Mr. Trump called for unity.

Some saw this as a calculated move. Mr. Cox had just narrowly won his contested 2024 primary against a Trump-backed candidate who called his Disagree Better agenda a 鈥渓eftist, Marxist tactic,鈥� and was later booed at that spring鈥檚 state GOP convention.

In recent years, Mr. Cox has shifted his policies further to the right. After vetoing a ban on transgender athletes in sports in 2022, he has since signed legislation that made Utah the first state to bar minors from gender-transition treatments.

But even as his policies have changed, his tone hasn鈥檛 shifted. And that has become increasingly out of step with the rest of his party.

鈥淒onald Trump is Donald Trump,鈥� Mr. Herbert told the Monitor. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a little harder for old dogs to learn new tricks. That鈥檚 why I think Governor Cox, at [Friday鈥檚] press conference, said, 鈥業 want to address the young people here, the best hope we have for the future of America.鈥欌��