Phil Lyman

Phil Lyman is a 4 th  generation native of Southeast Utah, specifically from Blanding in San Juan County. He grew up with a love of God, America, and the Land. As a kid he worked in the remote areas of Southeast Utah as a helper building roads to remote mines and stock ponds. He will still tell you that his favorite smell is a combination of diesel, grease, and red dirt.

Phil served a mission to South Africa, married his high school sweetheart Jody Shumway, played football briefly at BYU as a tight end, became a CPA, and has helped to start many very successful businesses in Blanding and the surrounding area. His family is his greatest joy.

Phil was a San Juan County Commissioner, and his fight to protect the citizens of San  Juan County from vicious attacks from the Bureau Land Management resulted in federal charges against him. He was charged with misdemeanor conspiracy to trespass on federal land when he and more the 500 others drove on a county road two miles from his front door in Blanding. Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and 10 days in jail left Phil with a healthy contempt for the corruption that literally defines the Department  of Justice and the media.

Phil will tell you that he tries to live by the unwritten Code of the West, namely – Never abandon a friend in need; Live each day with courage; Do what has to be done; Pay your bills, and; If you’re punched, always punch back.

Phil has stated many times that we elect representatives to fight for us, not to negotiate the terms of our surrender. For better or worse, this philosophy guides his political service. He was the first Utah State Legislator with a parole officer. One reporter gave him the tagline of “Law Breaker Turned Law Maker”, a tagline he is very proud of! And he was one of the first people pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2020.