Who did Polynesian voters in Utah vote for?

[Zioneer]

I'm having trouble finding some information on the specific voting trends of Polynesians and Pacific Islanders in Utah, partially because it seems like they vote less than the rest of the state and partially because I've googled it, but after a short while of searching, I don't know where to look.

So can anyone tell me who Polynesians/Pacific Islanders in Utah voted for in Presidential, Gubernatorial, Senatorial, and Congress races?

Oh, and apologies if this is in the wrong forum.

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Who cares?

[bgwah]

Aren't they mostly Mormon? If so, probably R.

[Zioneer]

Well, since the Pacific Islander population of Utah is 197,205, or 7% of Utah's total population, I think that if they were mobilized to vote, plenty of people would care. Assuming over half of the Pacific Islander population are adults, that's about 98,000 votes. For a population which is mostly nonexistent outside of their original countries as well as Utah and Hawaii, that's pretty good numbers.

You might not care, but hey, you aren't the voice of the forum.

Aren't they mostly Mormon? If so, probably R.

Yeah, most of them are Mormon, but even minorities who are Mormons tend to be more moderate or even liberal; Latino Mormons tend to not like Romney for his immigration views, for example. So I want to know if the "moderate minority Mormon" being moderates and even Democrats is possible.

[ag]

Most likely, the only people to have even given a stab at collecting such data would be some campaigns in Utah. It's a small subpopulation in a small state - not even exit polls would be good enough to say anything. Only some very narrowly designed studies could even attempt to ask this question. But even if it has been done, it wouldn't be public. I doubt it has been done, though - Utah is not THAT competitive. If you are interested, DIY )

[Zioneer]

Most likely, the only people to have even given a stab at collecting such data would be some campaigns in Utah. It's a small subpopulation in a small state - not even exit polls would be good enough to say anything. Only some very narrowly designed studies could even attempt to ask this question. But even if it has been done, it wouldn't be public. I doubt it has been done, though - Utah is not THAT competitive. If you are interested, DIY )

One of my biggest problems with Utah politics is that neither party seems to involve the Pacific Islander/Polynesian population at all. Sure, the Dems have a Pacific Islander Caucus, but they don't have Islander candidates, they don't have Islander-focused events, they don't have strategies to involve the Islanders, they barely mention them, and nobody seems to want to register the Pacific Islanders to vote.

Further, Utah doesn't seem to provide much services or cultural sensitivity, and the state hasn't done much to address gang and education problems with Pacific Islanders. Yet at the same time, Utahns seem to have a fantastically positive opinion of Pacific Islanders in general, and a very good opinion of Polynesians specifically. There seems to be less racism and xenophobia pointed towards them than there is towards African-Americans, American Indians, or Latinos. In my experience (as a white guy who has lived in a predominately white part of Utah that nonetheless has Polynesian minorities), people love Polynesians.

And just some token level of involvement would rapidly change the voting trends, the quality of life, and the happiness levels of Pacific Islanders in Utah. So I don't understand why nothing has been done, even if it's just "hey here's a Polynesian candidate for such and such, you can look to him for successful Polynesian role models". The Dems could have the Pacific Islander vote forever if they just tried.

[ag]

It's one of a zillion tiny gropus in the US - just far too small to matter. There are many more Russians/Russian Jews in the US, and they are pretty concentrated in NY and a few other areas, and they've been there for decades. Still, it took till 2006 to have even a single Russian elected to the NY State Assembly. To the best of my knowledge, he still is the only elected Russian-speaking official of note anywhere.

[minionofmidas]

Well, since the Pacific Islander population of Utah is 197,205, or 7% of Utah's total population, I think that if they were mobilized to vote, plenty of people would care.

Uh, what?

http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0400000US49

0.9%. (Which incidentally is still the highest share on the mainland, I think.)

[Zioneer]

Well, since the Pacific Islander population of Utah is 197,205, or 7% of Utah's total population, I think that if they were mobilized to vote, plenty of people would care.

Uh, what?

http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0400000US49

0.9%. (Which incidentally is still the highest share on the mainland, I think.)

Crap, Wikipedia lies to me again; that's where I got the info from. It'll teach me to use Wiki as a source without checking if there's a citation.

Still, that seems a little low. I was pretty sure that there's more than 24,554 Pacific Islanders in Utah.

[SPC]

What this thread reminds me of

[Zioneer]

You guys don't need to make fun of me, you know. It was a legitimate question, since many people here know more about polling than the average political junkie. I may be being a bit thin-skinned here, but I can't understand why no one just answered the question.

[TJ in Oregon]

You guys don't need to make fun of me, you know. It was a legitimate question, since many people here know more about polling than the average political junkie. I may be being a bit thin-skinned here, but I can't understand why no one just answered the question.

The reason is probably that no one here knows the answer.

[Хahar 🤔]

Are there any Polynesian areas in Utah? I know there was Iosepa, but that's been abandoned for a long time.

[Zioneer]

Are there any Polynesian areas in Utah? I know there was Iosepa, but that's been abandoned for a long time.

Not any specifically Polynesian areas (though I seem to recall West Valley City and Salt Lake City having a few Polynesian neighborhoods), but Polynesians are really sprinkled throughout the Wasatch Front; every LDS congregation seems to have at least one Polynesian family.

[後援会]

From my experience, the Pacific Islands are extremely socially conservative. Extremely extremely socially conservative. And extremely extremely Christian. Hell, many of the Pacific Islands are constitutionally required to shut down during the sabbath.

Combine Pacific Islanders, who are very often serious business about their religions, and LDS, which is a pretty serious business religion, and you probably have a lot of people who are really really really serious business about religion. I just can't imagine that many of them voting Democrat.

Are you aware of the situation of Polynesians and Micronesians in Hawaii? Racism and discrimination toward them is pretty rampant in "progressive Hawaii", a somewhat amusing juxtaposition with very traditional Utah if it weren't for the viciousness of the racism.

[Simfan34]

From my experience, the Pacific Islands are extremely socially conservative. Extremely extremely socially conservative. And extremely extremely Christian. Hell, many of the Pacific Islands are constitutionally required to shut down during the sabbath.

Combine Pacific Islanders, who are very often serious business about their religions, and LDS, which is a pretty serious business religion, and you probably have a lot of people who are really really really serious business about religion. I just can't imagine that many of them voting Democrat.

Are you high right now?

[後援会]

Uh, I may have failed to mention that Polynesians in Utah are largely members of the LDS Church. And I was more referring to Polynesians/Micronesians (who are often very religious), not Hawaiians (who...are not as religious).

[Zioneer]

Uh, I may have failed to mention that Polynesians in Utah are largely members of the LDS Church. And I was more referring to Polynesians/Micronesians (who are often very religious), not Hawaiians (who...are not as religious).

Don't forget that the LDS church is very prominent in American Samoa as well, yet most of the officials there are Democrats.

[RI]

Well, since the Pacific Islander population of Utah is 197,205, or 7% of Utah's total population, I think that if they were mobilized to vote, plenty of people would care.

Uh, what?

http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0400000US49

0.9%. (Which incidentally is still the highest share on the mainland, I think.)

Crap, Wikipedia lies to me again; that's where I got the info from. It'll teach me to use Wiki as a source without checking if there's a citation.

Still, that seems a little low. I was pretty sure that there's more than 24,554 Pacific Islanders in Utah.

The 2011 ACS lists there as being 27,209 Pacific Islanders in Utah (1.0%). If you include people who are multiple races, there are 39,628 part-Pacific Islanders in Utah (1.4%).

The counties with the highest concentration are Salt Lake County, Utah County, and Washington County.

[後援会]

Don't forget that the LDS church is very prominent in American Samoa as well, yet most of the officials there are Democrats.

America Samoa is what? 20% Mormon? Pacific Islanders in Utah are probably much more heavily Mormon than that.

[mileslunn]

I would suspect probably pretty mixed.  Considering how heavily Utah went Republican, I doubt they went massively Democrat, but at the same time I suspect like all minority groups the Democrats did better.  The fact many in the tea party are racist probably scares away some conservative minorities who would otherwise vote Republican.

[Nichlemn]

Pacific Islanders in New Zealand vote pretty heavily for the Labour Party, so unless they're vastly different demographically I'd guess they voted Democratic.

[Badger]

Pacific Islanders in New Zealand vote pretty heavily for the Labour Party, so unless they're vastly different demographically I'd guess they voted Democratic.

That's not even comparing apples and oranges; more like apples and ostriches.