Utah Governor Spencer Cox: ‘Stay in California’

Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) suggested Friday it would be best for people to “stay in California” rather than flocking to Utah as they flee the heavily taxed, heavily regulated, high-crime, Democrat-run Golden State.

Cox was speaking to reporters outside the White House alongside New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) after the National Governors Association met with President Joe Biden and members of his administration.

Murphy was asked how New Jersey could try to keep residents from leaving, as many have done in recent years. He claimed that “New Jersey’s never been hotter than it is right now.” (More people are leaving than arriving.)

“We’re having the opposite problem,” Cox chimed in. “This last Census confirmed that Utah was the fastest-growing state over the past ten years. So our biggest problems are more growth-related. We would love for people to stay in California rather than coming as refugees to Utah.”

Utah Governor: 'Stay in California' @CSPAN https://t.co/TOolBUgVtq

— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) February 14, 2023

He continued: “Our biggest problem right now is housing, and water … because we’ve grown so quickly, we need a larger supply of housing. That’s where our focus is. We’re not working to attract more people. We’re doing just fine that way.”

Murphy joked: “We’ll take some of your folks into New Jersey.”

Last year, the Census reported that 300,000 people had moved out of California from July 2021 to July 2022 — the most of any state. California lost a congressional seat after the last Census, partly due to outward migration.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who is thought to have presidential ambitions, has advertised in other states to encourage people to come to California for abortions, and claims his state is the true home of freedom.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.