When Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called for civility last week following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the GOP governor pleaded for self-reflection over violence.

It wasn’t the first time.

After the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, where 49 people were killed at the Orlando gay bar, Cox — then lieutenant governor — also looked inward. As he spoke to a largely LGBTQ crowd who gathered for a vigil in Salt Lake City, he went back in time and drew from his experiences at his small, rural high school.

Holding back tears, his voice quivering, Cox offered an apology: “There were some kids in my class that were different. Sometimes I wasn’t kind to them.

“I didn’t know it at the time, but I know now that they were gay. I will forever regret not treating them with the kindness, dignity and respect — the love — that they deserved,” Cox said.

Nearly a decade later, amid gaggles of reporters and photographers that had descended on his state following Kirk’s killing, Cox bucked the tone and rhetoric of other Republicans, including President Trump, offering a different voice.

“This is our moment: Do we escalate or do we find an off-ramp?” Cox told reporters when he announced authorities had apprehended a suspect in Kirk’s killing. “It’s a choice.”

People who know Cox say they weren’t surprised he took this approach. And they said his message spoke to something bigger.

“Not only did it........

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