Talk Elections

So why did FDR win Utah all four times, in addition to going for LBJ in 1964?

It's just like how some of the Catholic parishes around here begged congregants to vote Republican, but not all of them did.

The Mormon Church supported the Democrats back then. There were also more non-Mormons in Utah back then, working in mining and railroads.

Also, we're talking about two cases of freaking nationwide landslides.

By the way, you forgetting Truman carried Utah in 1948 as well.

I believe Utah is conservative largely for social reasons, not necessarily economic ones.  Therefore a liberal economic democrat that is conservative/moderate socially is fine for Utah...and the South.

A. Mormons aren't forced to vote for anyone.
B. You obviously don't know anything about the history of the LDS church. There are some quite informative posts on this topic on this forum somewhere. I suggest you find them.

When there's a secret ballot (and when everyone knows it's secret), you can't force anyone to vote for anybody.

Do you know Utah went for in their first presidential election? WJBryan, and at over 80% of the vote it was one of his best states - only to narrowly go to McKinley in the 1900 rematch. by 1912 they were Taft's best state.  Not sure why, but then Utah was usually slightly more Democrat than the rest of the country until Eisenhower, and weren't the GOP's best state again until Ford.

Because the Mormon Church told them to vote for McKinley.

The Mormon Church runs its own social welfare program and thus has less of a need for government assistance.

Because people voted on other issues besides silver by then.

The LDS' official stances are more liberal than their average active parishioners' views... in that respect they are quite like most historically state churches around the world. Which, for purposes of Utah, they effectively are.

I don't think the church has ever told anybody who to vote for, btw, at least not post historic compromise with the United States government (and thus post statehood). It's just that, being somewhat insular, Utah can swing to its own rhythm rather than that of the national swing.
And of course that the current alignment with its focus on identity politics doesn't give conservative Mormons much incentive to vote Democratic. Not unless some Republican Born-Again Christian candidate actively campaigns against receiving Mormon votes.

I wonder who the Utahans would be going to vote for if Fred Karger won the Republican nomination.

I know, it's a very hypothetical question...

Not forgetting, Utah is one of the ten most "successful" bellwether state with a wondrous hit ratio of 75,9%!

I've heard that some of it has to do with BYU's business school influence...

Also, Utah is a very white and very fast-growing state, in addition to the LDS thing....

Mormons were poorer then, felt more oppressed, and social issues were less important, and LDS discipline has increased substantially with this generation. It is no longer "acceptable" for LDS members to drink in private (with everyone looking the other way), and that was not the case a generation ago. Heck, a friend of mine said that at Brigham Young University when he was there at some basketball game 35 years ago or so, pot usage was common. Now it is the road to instant expulsion. That is my impression of the reasons for the change in LDS voting habits.

By the way, I was really impressed with the evidence of LDS prosperity when driving though Washington County and environs in SW Utah a couple of months ago. The homes were very impressive, and large, given the large LDS families, and that was true even out in the hinterlands. Mormons know how to make money. Part of it I suspect is due to IT. That is an area Mormons have gravitated to disproportionately.

What's really surprising is how well "Wet Al" did in Utah.

The Consitution Party

So you're saying that Utah has been getting more conservative over time?

There was a bit of a Mormon/Catholic solidarity thing going on in 1960, and it wouldn't shock me if it happened then as well. He did better in the Mormon parts of Idaho too.


The impression I've got is while the LDS Church is unquestionably against abortion and homosexuality they don't want this to be the primary focus of what they are about and most notable message. Much like most evangelical churches that aren't de facto arms of the GOP, which so many are now. The real pressure I suspect happens within the LDS community at the micro level, just like with evangelicals (and granted in the opposite direction in more liberal churches too. Some churches in Minneapolis have gotten really aggressive about the gay marriage vote and are getting to the point of basically saying voting for the amendment to ban it is a sin that will bring God's wrath on you. In nicer terms than the evangelicals campaigning for it obviously, but that is the gist.)

It just doesn't happen in Minnesota. My pastor in Laramie used to say things to that effect all the time, using the biblical parable of the servant who was punished for being cruel in the employ of his master.

What's interesting about the exit polling of the 2008 GOP primary is that a large majority of Utah GOP said that abortion should "mostly" be illegal. In all other states in the 2008 GOP primary, more exit poll takers said that abortion should "always" be illegal.