One of the interesting side notes in this bizarre election cycle has been the widely reported fact that Utah Mormon voters, including stanch Republicans (which is practically the same thing) are not supporting the Republican Nominee, Donald Trump. In fact, by and large that can’t stand him. Trump came in third in the Utah Primary, losing to Ted Cruz and John Kasich. There have been numerous articles written in the press and online about this odd situation. Utah is one of the reddest (Republican) states in the nation. The last time a Democratic Presidential candidate won in Utah was in 1964, Lyndon Johnson. The situation is eerily similar. The Republican candidate that year was Barry Goldwater, a tough-talking Arizona Senator portrayed as an instable figure ready to enter into a world-ending nuclear war against the Soviet Union.
Anyway, if you are interested, here are a few link to those articles:
Buzzfeed (McKay Coppins, a Mormon journalist)
New York Times
Religion News Service (Jana Reiss)
Politico
The Federalist
By the way, bordering states like Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming also are in play due to a high Mormon population.
Why Mormons don’t like Trump
I happen to know a lot of Mormons in and out of Utah who are going to vote for Trump. The main reason is not because they love Trump so much as hate, and despise (and just every other negative emotion) Hillary Clinton so much. But generally the reasons given are:
- Mormon generally like immigrants – The Church has always been pretty sympathetic toward immigrants eyeing them as potential converts, so Trumps attack on immigrants, illegal or not rubs many members the wrong way who see it as a lack of charity and kindness.
- He dissed Mitt Romney – Trump counter attacked Romney after Mitt went after him in a speech in Utah. You just don’t attack the Lord’s anointed Presidential candidate and get away with it.
- He is an immoral loudmouth – Three marriages, suspected acts of adultery, foul language, and talk about one’s genitalia are pretty off-putting to Mormons.
- Not really religious – He called Mormonism an “alien” religion (to Mormon reporter McKay Coppin’s face), made fun of other’s people’s faith, doesn’t know how to quote the Bible properly (TWO Corinthians) and really appears not religious at all in spite of his claims.
Also, there are a number of Mormon politicians who have come out against Trump, most notably Senators Jeff Flake of Arizona and Mike Lee of Utah.
So, Utah and neighboring states become open to voting for the Libertarian Candidate, Gary Johnson. In fact, Johnson has already been to Utah, but even he had to soft-pedal statements he made about Mormons and religious Liberty, a Mormon hot topic.
In Rides a Man on a White Horse, Utah Style.
So, in the last few days, a candidate appears on the scene that Utah voters could vote for. He has no chance of winning the Presidency and his role appears to be that of a spoiler for Donald Trump. To deprive Trump of a potential victory, even though Trump all by himself appears to be doing just fine.
Who is he, you ask? Why, It’s Evan McMullin!
Evan McMullin, who is that?
Well, he was born in Provo, educated at BYU (there goes the U of U vote!), Obtained an MBA from Wharton (Where have you heard that before?) He served as a missionary in Brazil (instant Mo-cred). He served in the CIA as a covert agent in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. After 10 years, he transitioned to a role as an investment Banker for Goldman Sachs. In 2013, McMullin joined the House Committee on Foreign Affairs as a senior advisor and later became the chief policy director of the House Republican Conference. (Evan McMullin for President website)
He’s the complete package for Mormons, Utah Valley, BYU, Missionary, Government Service, Wall Street insider and finally political operative. He only appears to lack one thing, a wife and family. He’s 40. It’s unusual.
His pitch is that Hillary is corrupt and Donald appeals to the worst fears of Americans. He’s an independent. He’s currently not on any ballots for November. Some state’s deadlines have past. He can get on Utah’s ballots with only 1000 signatures. I’m sure he has enough family members and Ward Members for that.
He’s not going to win, he’s a potential spoiler. According to the Daily Beast, he is “Romney’s revenge.”
“There is no reason to believe that McMullin will upset that math or carve into Clinton’s base of centrist and progressive Democrats. But keeping Trump out of the White House isn’t the only goal. McMullin presents a bona fide conservative alternative to the toxicity unleashed by Trump and his campaign. Should McMullin make it onto the ballot, his candidacy would give disaffected right-wingers a lever to pull.” (The Daily Beast)
Rick Santorum said something on Bill Maher Show the other day that really hammered home an important point to me. I am not a fan of Santorum or Maher, for that matter.
He said, “…Democrats and Republicans, a pox on both their houses, are in the game for their buddies and friends, whether its trade, or whether its immigration, or whether its tax policy, everybody’s taking care of their buddies, ….and [the people] are pissed off.” (You Tube)
I’ve thought that for a long, long time. And I’ve said that the American People are the most under represented group in our government.
So, are you pissed off enough to vote for someone other than the two establishment candidates? Does Evan McMullin interest you?
Discuss
Wheat & Tares 
“I’ve said that the American People are the most under represented group in our government.”
Well said!
Those states may have a high Mormon population, but a low number of electoral college votes overall. This isn’t going to affect the national election one way or another.
i’m intrigued by him and his candidacy but would like to know more before I endorse him. I’m not sure what he supports beyond “never Trump” (which, granted, is almost enough to get out my vote). What kind of a leader would he be? What are his views on taxes, gun control, etc? As you pointed out, what’s the deal with his personal life?
I’m sure Evan McMullin has great intentions, but a vote for him or for any third party candidate or the choice to sit this one out is simply irresponsible. In a year when unexpected things are happening, Utah’s vote could actually be meaningful in determining who occupies the White House.
Many Republicans, even at the top levels, are scared to death of a Trump presidency, and for good reason. Only the truly gullible are arriving at the conclusion that a Clinton presidency would be anywhere near as dangerous. With Clinton we pretty much know what we will get (and some of us would actually welcome it).
So, if you vote for Evan M or Mitt R or Gary J or whomever, that is the equivalent of a vote for Trump. The only certain way to keep him out of the White House is for those who oppose him to vote for Clinton.
If you happen to like Trump and think he would be a good president, then by all means, vote for him. But I truly pray that you don’t get what you deserve.
Given the choice between satan and the antichrist I feel little compunction over voting for a fledgling outsider.
And I have no problem supporting this candidate. Props to her for learning our language and reaching out.
http://beta.deseretnews.com/article/865659843/Exclusive-Hillary-Clinton-What-I-have-in-common-with-Utah-leaders-2-religious-freedom-and-the.html
Hear, hear, Naismith! That article in the Des News shows that Hillary has one important qualification for the office (in addition to the others): she knows how to pick great advisors to write a pitch-perfect article for her target demographic. Quoting Wixom was perfect. Well done, staff of Hillary Clinton!
I wonder if any of them would like a position in the LDS newsroom after the election; they could always use an infusion of competence.
I don’t fall in to the camp that says a vote for someone other than (Trump/Clinton) is a vote for (Clinton/Trump). But a third party vote is a vote for someone who has no chance of winning, in lieu of a vote for someone who might win. It deprives a contender of a vote they may need.
I agree that this election is important and I would encourage people to vote for one of the major party candidates if they think that candidate can do the job substantially better than the other. But if you think both candidates are equally bad and a ham sandwich can do a better job, go ahead and vote for someone else or don’t vote at all.
in my opinion, one of the major candidates is much, much better than the other.
As for McMullin, even if I were opting for a third party vote, I don’t see sufficient reason to vote for him. All I know about him is the pittance that has been in the news the last couple of days. You may as well vote for “Mystery Mormon #5”. Sure, he has got a few months to establish himself. But there is a lot of catching up to do.
Is Hillary a “Wixomite?” Or does she really not know who she is and that she is probably a Republican?
I thought it was a good article and, as Hawk said, shows some level of competence in speaking to a particular group. I realize some might find it patronizing, but it’s better than what Trump does.
Is this guy actually an active Mormon? I have 12 mutual friends with him on Facebook, which is… not a lot. I haven’t had a chance to check in with any of them, but if he’s active and unmarried, given where we have both lived in the last few years, I should have a much bigger overlap in mutual friends or else he is a total recluse.
No. Get real, he will never have enough votes or (unfortunately money) so voting for him is taking away a vote against Trump, who is a looming threat to our country and world. I love the idealism, but it’s time to be practical and put out a fire.
After NOVEMBER, get SERIOUS about campaign finance reform. Your first question for ANY elected official should be ‘what are you going to do to take big money out of politics? How are you going to support campaign finance reform?” Any candidate who isn’t on board doesn’t get your vote.
We take dirty money out of politics, return the vote to the people. Put ethical people who haven’t sold their souls to big companies in office. It isn’t going to happen this November, but we’ve got to put out the looming fire, let Hillary sail the ship without hitting “THE” button and causing WWIII, then use the momentum in the country to level the playing field for honest candidates to take to the field.
Emaem, he did work for the CIA. He probably is a recluse due to his training.
I don’t mind my family/friends voting for Johnson/Third Party, I think if they didn’t they’d end up voting for Trump over Clinton. So by all means vote your conscience.
I’m not a big Hillary fan but think she’s far and away a better/safe path for our country than Trump. My GOP husband that matches most with Ben Carson will be voting Hillary as well, but I think he’s one of the few rare ones crossing party lines.
I’m supporting the woman that defended a 12-yr-old’s rapist, she seems like the safest bet.
Are you all aware that there are different voting systems.
In Australia we have compulsory voting, and optional preferential voting. Compulsory is self explanitory. Optional preferential means that, if there are 6 candidates in your seat, you can either just put a 1 beside the one you want, or you can number them from 1 to 6 in your order of preference.
So you might still have 2 major parties, but you can still protest by putting others you prefer before the major party you prefer. If the person whogot your first vote is not elected, and if one person did not get more than 50% of votes, then your vote is passed on to your second preference, and so on until one person gets more than half the votes.
We had a very long national election this last time of 8 weeks, usually they are 4.
Don’t know how you enduremonth and months.
If you are going to vote and do not want to vote for Clinton or Trump, then don’t waste your vote on a 3rd party candidate that will only help Clinton or Trump indirectly, vote for America. Decide what you want America to look like based on which candidate becomes President of the United States.
If you want America to change into a more socialist country with the voting blocks primarily fixed for Democrats in the future (especially Presidential races), vote for Clinton. She is going to select at least 2 liberal supreme court justices which will push America into a more socialistic country because their judicial changes will change the Constitution from what it was when the founders of this country wrote it and what it is today. She will add reforms to the law to modify the gun laws and limit gun and ammunition freedoms since changing the 2nd amendment would be much too difficult to do directly. Hillary’s immigration stance will also bring into the country many refugees and immigrants that will stand more with the Democrat party for getting a free ride into America.
A change in the opposite direction will be voting for Trump who will do things against the status quo and cause a lot of change to both parties. Trump’s political plan is a change to better the country for the people and listen to the people instead of letting Washington DC figure it out and do it the way the politicians want it to go. The only way to change the politicians is to put someone in charge who isn’t afraid of what may happen to him for changing the system and messing with the political system as it is today.
For myself, I have decided to go with Trump. Not because I like everything he stands for or everything he is doing, but because every part of his plan is for the betterment of the people. Clinton’s plan is for the betterment of Clinton. I don’t care about either of the candidates, but I do care about what America will look like. 4 years of Clinton means a liberal supreme count which will change America for generations. This is not an election that means waiting 4 years and trying again. This election will change America for the better or for the worse depending on who gets elected. That is why my choice is Trump.
Voting for a liberal supreme court will make this country better, and I certainly would applaud both Obama and Clinton appointees to the Supreme Court. (Liberalism is not a dirty word here.) Even Joseph Smith said “Our heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive… See https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2003/10/the-grandeur-of-god?lang=eng&_r=1
Voting for Trump is to vote for racism and dictatorship. Not only does Trump not understand the constitution, he doesn’t understand the economy or foreign affairs. He will be a disaster, and anyone who votes for him is voting for a more bigoted, sexist, racist America. They are also voting for Trump to use bankruptcy laws for the government, and making America Worse. That should be his slogan. Make America worse in every way possible. Mark my words, America will be worse if Trump is president.