(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Spencer Cox is sworn in as Utah's 18th Governor at Tuacahn Center for the Arts in Ivins on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021.

Ivins Throughout his rapidly ascending political career, Spencer Cox has served as city mayor, county commissioner, state lawmaker and lieutenant governor.

Through the challenges of the coronavirus outbreak, he said individuals, communities, industries and countries have found ways to adapt and innovate through impossible circumstances. And he marveled at the ways Utahns in particular have stepped up amid the chaos, sewing six million masks and gowns and helping neighbors fix uprooted trees and damaged homes after earthquakes and hurricane-force winds.

But Cox, 45, also recognized the many challenges facing the nation and the state, including the political divisiveness that was on show even at his inauguration, as dozens of protesters lined the road into the event, chanting Gods country, not Coxs country! and holding signs decrying state coronavirus mandates.

We are more divided than at any time in our lifetimes as the news is filled with civil unrest and protests, including one right outside this venue here today, Cox said. Hateful rhetoric dominates our political discourse. We are facing a crisis of empathy, a scourge of contempt. Very little feels united about the United States today.

Cox argued, though, that its not too late to fix this, and quoted a series of American leaders in issuing a call for the states residents to come together to write the next chapter of Utahs history and prove that yes, indeed, our greatest days still lie ahead.

I come to you from the smallest of small towns and the humblest of circumstances, he concluded, his voice cracking with emotion. In taking a sacred oath today, my family and I pledge our hearts and our hands to you these next four years. We will succeed together, as one Utah.

Along with Cox and Henderson, state Auditor John Dougall, Treasurer David Damschen and Attorney General Sean Reyes also took their oaths of office at the ceremony on Monday.

Cox said on Twitter Sunday that Hendersons speech marked the first time in the states history that a lieutenant governor has spoken at an inauguration ceremony.

During her remarks, Henderson, the states second female lieutenant governor, promised opportunity for all Utahns under the Cox administration, assuring them that theres room at the table for you but that there would be no token leadership.

We dont need more women in the public sphere solely to provide expert opinions on womens issues. We dont need more people of color in the halls of government only to help us resolve issues related to minorities. And we dont need more rural Utahns serving in our administration simply to help the people in their hometowns, she said. No, we need representation of all of our voices, so that we can solve the hard problems in front of us in the best way.

In addition to the remarks from the lieutenant governor, the location of the inauguration marked another deviation from tradition. The ceremony has typically been held at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City (with the recent exception of a three-year period starting in 2004 when the building was undergoing renovations) and Cox said this was the first oath of office event ever held outside of Salt Lake City.

The event also looked different than ones in years past because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendance at the open-air Tuacahn amphitheater was capped at around 25% of its usual 1,920-seat capacity and guests were required to physically distance.

Cox arrived in southwestern Utah ahead of the inauguration for a day of service with the Utah Food Bank on Saturday. On Sunday, he and Henderson attended several church services as part of a day of prayer before attending a freedom fireside hosted by the St. George Interfaith Council.

In Fillmore, the group visited Utahs historic territorial statehouse and Cox signed his first executive order, instructing state agencies to review occupational licenses with an eye toward eliminating barriers to work.

Often around occupational licensure, we say that were putting regulations in place to protect people when what it really does is protect people who maybe are in power or who already have the things that they need, he said. And we end up hurting people who are trying to get into an industry, who are trying to make a living.

Cox gave the example of an old Utah law that required anyone who was paid to braid hair to go to beauty school and log hundreds of hours to obtain a license. A lawsuit ultimately overturned that regulation, which he said hurt single moms who were trying to make a living for their families.

Those are the types of regulations were talking about, Cox added.

As part of the executive order, agencies must report back to Cox by the end of June with recommendations for deleting rules and regulations that are outdated or can be relaxed without risk to public health and safety.

Unfortunately, racism does still exist in our country, he said. It was unfortunately a founding principle of our country and something that weve worked over generations to fix. Weve come a long ways and weve gotten better, but we still have a ways to go.

The new governor said he believes Utah can be a leader in the country in ensuring equity and inclusion.

He reiterated that aim during comments to the media in Fillmore on Monday, noting that vaccine distribution was first and foremost his priority. He said he plans to meet this week with everyone that is participating in distribution and will be evaluating lessons learned to see where the state can do better.

I assure you that over the next few days and the next couple weeks, we will see a significant increase in the pace and number of vaccines being distributed, he said.

The goal, he said, is to exhaust the weekly supply of vaccines the week they are received.

A schedule of Coxs first week on the job shows he plans to fill much of it with meetings including with cabinet members, education stakeholders, minority leadership and other legislators and with interviews with the media. On Thursday, he plans to unveil his 2022 fiscal year budget.

- Reporter Bethany Rodgers contributed to this report.

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Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox is sworn in as Utah's 18th governor - Salt Lake Tribune