After being hailed for years as a rare GOP moderate, Gov. Spencer Cox lurched to the political right this year.

Why it matters: Election results suggest Cox's MAGA shift aligns with many voters and may signal an end to Utah's reputation for a more centrist, old-school brand of Republicanism.

• That's why we consider this Utah's top story of 2024.

Catch up quick: Cox previously was called "the new face of Trump skepticism on the right" and "the red-state governor who's not afraid to be 'woke'."

The big picture: Cox's most notable pivot was his endorsement of Donald Trump, barely a week after saying he wouldn't vote for the Republican nominee.

• Cox attributed his change of heart to the assassination attempt in July at a Pennsylvania rally, calling Trump's survival a "miracle" that would unite the nation.
• Before that, Cox hadn't voted for a major party's presidential candidate since Mitt Romney's 2012 run, and he lambasted Trump's unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in 2020 and 2016.

Zoom in: Early in his career, Cox was elevated as an LGBTQ+ ally, gaining national attention in 2022 for vetoing a statewide ban on trans students in high school sports.

• He also joined teenagers on the state Capitol floor as they staged a sit-in to protest conversion therapy, and he wept in viral footage at a vigil following the 2016 shooting at Orlando's Pulse nightclub.

The latest: Cox kicked off 2024 by signing an anti-trans bathroom ban. He then:

• described gender-affirming health care as "genital mutilation."
• declared June a "month of bridge-building" rather than the traditional Pride Month.
• shared social media posts that falsely claimed Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif is not a woman.

Where he stood on immigration, DEI, public lands and Dionysus

Utah's legislature was repeatedly stymied by state judges this year, prompting Republican lawmakers to begin considering judicial reforms.

The big picture: The Utah Supreme Court handed lawmakers their first big L of the year in July, when judges unanimously rejected their arguments in support of the state's latest electoral maps.

• The legislature in 2021 threw out maps from a voter-approved redistricting commission and drew new ones that split blue-leaning Salt Lake County into four congressional districts.
• Lawmakers argued they had the power to revise the successful 2018 anti-gerrymandering ballot initiative to make the redistricting commission merely advisory.
• The court disagreed, siding with the League of Women Voters and other groups who sued last year to restore the commission's maps.

The intrigue: Lawmakers then drafted a state constitutional amendment that would have enabled them to repeal all voter-led initiatives, and placed it on November's ballot.

Yes, but: A judge voided the proposed amendment because the ballot summary failed to state that lawmakers may repeal voter-led measures, or that the amendment would reverse July's Supreme Court ruling.

Meanwhile: The state Supreme Court in August blocked the state's pending, near-total abortion ban, further rankling GOP lawmakers.

One more blocked amendment

Utah had a particularly newsy year for sports.

• Here's the highlight reel.

🏒 Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith bought the Arizona Coyotes in April, bringing Utah's first NHL team to Salt Lake City.

• State and city officials approved a sales tax worth up to $900 million for a new downtown sports district for the new Utah Hockey Club — even though sports venues are often costly public investments.

⛷️ The Winter Olympics will return to Utah in 2034 after the International Olympic Committee formally approved SLC as host in July.

🚔 A Salt Lake high school basketball player was placed under police protection in February after arch-conservative state school board member Natalie Cline posted photos of the girl online, questioning her gender and prompting threats.

🤸🏽 A feud broke out online this summer between the 2024 USA gymnastics team and former Utah gymnastics star and Olympian MyKayla Skinner after Skinner said the team lacked "depth," "talent" and "work ethic."

Plus: USU football firings and racism on the road

Here are other memorable stories from 2024.

😇 Sister lives: We have to agree with the Washington Post that 2024 was the "Year of Mormon Women."

• From "Secret Lives" to tradwives, and views on garments to questions of power, women from the faith had a lot to say (between sips from a Stanley Cup).

🎥 O Sundance, where art thou? Organizers of the famous film festival are considering leaving Utah's powdery slopes.

• The final choices are Boulder, Colorado; Cincinatti, Ohio; or staying in Park City.

📚 If you can read this, you're too close: 14 titles are now banned at public schools statewide — prompting mockery from author Margaret Atwood.

• Little Free Libraries are the newest target.

🍹Small doses: We found out state alcohol regulators were cracking down on "straw tests" — tiny taste tests that mixologists say are essential to cocktail craft.

• The state calls it drinking on the job.

Here are news items that caught our eye today.

🗳️ Utah Gov. Spencer Cox told reporters Thursday he would not support potential legislation to eliminate voting by mail. (Axios Salt Lake City)

⚖️ A Salt Lake City Police officer was charged this week with 13 felonies after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman he met on a dating app. (Utah News Dispatch)

🚨 A West Valley City woman, who police believe was killed alongside her three children by her husband, had moved from Myanmar to the U.S. to escape violence. (FOX 13)

⚽ Major League Soccer released its schedule for the upcoming season. Real Salt Lake's first match is on Feb. 22 against the San Jose Earthquakes. (Major League Soccer)