The Utah LDS vote was of interest to the media in the 2016 Presidential election because of the wide gap between Donald Trump’s (lack of) character and LDS values. Trump’s early attacks on immigrants led the Church, on December 8, 2015, to release a statement on religious freedom that contained two quotes from Joseph Smith. On March 3, 2016, at the University of Utah, Mitt Romney delivered a speech strongly critical of Trump. On October 8, 2016, in response to the video in which Trump brags about sexually abusing women, the Deseret News editorial board called for Trump to “step down from his pursuit of the American presidency.”
These events caused many Utah Mormon Republicans to agonize over their vote, and helped to fuel the candidacy of independent Evan McMullin. The fascinating question was whether Trump, McMullin, or perhaps even Hillary Clinton would gain Utah’s six electoral votes. At the time, some national media noted how the Mormons seemed to be inclined to put their values ahead of their historical Republican partisanship. Now that Donald Trump HAS won Utah’s electoral votes, it is interesting to analyze what happened. Did Mormons put their partisanship ahead of their values?
According to a foxnews.com 2016 “National President Exit Poll”, Mormons, who were only 1% of the national vote, voted 25% for Clinton and 61% for Trump. The poll broke down the vote by Protestant, Catholic, Other Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Other, and None. According to these categories, the LDS had the highest percentage of Trump votes. Protestants were listed at 60% for Trump.
At the Pew Research Center, a similar poll also had the LDS Trump vote at 61%, but they had a separate category for Evangelical Christians who came in at 81% for Trump. It seems, then, to be incorrect to generalize that Mormons had a higher percentage of support for Trump than any other religious group (as some have claimed based on the Fox poll).
Still, if 61% of Mormons voted for Trump, that is not very encouraging for those of us who consider Trump to be both immoral and dangerous. The 61% indicates that of those Mormons across the country who voted in this election, 61% voted for Trump. It is important to note however that in Utah, where Mormon voters had the non-Trump option of voting for Evan McMullin, Trump only received 46.5 % of the vote (and, of course, not all of those were Mormon votes).
The raw numbers show that Utah had 167 thousand fewer voters this year than in 2012. Since Utah has 1.4 million registered active voters, and the Trump vote was 401.2 thousand, 71% of registered active Utah voters did NOT vote for Donald Trump. Utah voters who were uncomfortable with Trump had more than the option of voting for someone else, they also had the option of not voting at all. Many of them took that option.
It would be unfair to say that Mormons in general put partisanship ahead of their values. For many, this was a very stressful election. Changing old habits can be difficult. But Donald Trump has given those of us on the left a golden opportunity to highlight the flaws of the Republican party to our brother and sister Mormons. Trump (and Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell, and Sarah Palin and …) will likely continue to provide examples of ignorance, intolerance, and lack of charity. Let us continue our determined efforts to enlighten our Mormon siblings with patience and love. We are stronger together.
This quote goes deep to my heart of hearts. I took heat for my vote this year, but I felt I was voting conscientiously with a vote that I could take before my Savior.