Utah gov, fill-in make light of brief absence for surgery

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert had to undergo surgery to remove painful kidney stones but he and Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox got to make light of the situation on social media while Herbert was temporarily unable to serve as governor.

Cox temporarily assumed the powers and duties of governor for about two hours Friday evening while Herbert, a 70-year-old Republican, underwent surgery that Deputy Chief of Staff Paul Edwards says was successful.

{{tncms-inline account=”SpencerJCox” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Most of you know I still live in the small town of Fairview on the farm my GGG-Grandfather settled almost 150 years ago. It’s perfect…except for the 200 mile commute every day. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/1hourGov?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#1hourGov</a></p>— Spencer Cox (@SpencerJCox) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpencerJCox/status/957052789552709632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 27, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”957052789552709632″ type=”twitter”}}

Herbert said on Twitter before his surgery that Cox was “measuring for drapes” in Herbert’s office and Cox tweeted afterward that “the peaceful transfer of power has occurred.”

{{tncms-inline account=”GovHerbert” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Honestly, <a href="https://twitter.com/SpencerJCox?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpencerJCox</a>!?! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/1hourgov?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#1hourgov</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/utpol?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#utpol</a> <a href="https://t.co/Dx983Sk6lK">pic.twitter.com/Dx983Sk6lK</a></p>— Gov. Gary Herbert (@GovHerbert) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovHerbert/status/956700744345796609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”956700744345796609″ type=”twitter”}}

While he was temporarily governor, Cox declared his wife as “the first lady of my heart” and he proposed that Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles be Cox’s own lieutenant governor.

{{tncms-inline account=”SpencerJCox” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ok, I have one more critical declaration left. If I only get one shot at this…Abby is the best thing that ever happened to me & Utah is lucky to have her as 1st Lady, if only for an hour. Happy birthday my love! ❤️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/1hourGov?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#1hourGov</a> <a href="https://t.co/85MK6taX5p">pic.twitter.com/85MK6taX5p</a></p>— Spencer Cox (@SpencerJCox) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpencerJCox/status/957062689896976384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 27, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”957062689896976384″ type=”twitter”}}

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