Utah is a state with a long and interesting political history. The Utah State Legislature governs the state, and is responsible for passing laws that help shape the direction of the state. In addition, numerous cities in Utah have their own local government representatives, such as mayors, council members, education officials, and other officials who are elected to represent their district. These local politicians often deal with issues that are specific to their city or area, which can include things like zoning regulations, road construction projects, and public safety programs. Each election cycle brings new faces into office as constituents look to bring fresh ideas to the table. As a result of its strong representation in both local and national politics, Utah has been able to successfully craft policies that benefit its citizens while creating an atmosphere of economic growth and opportunity for all.
The political climate in Utah is moderately conservative.
In Utah 37.2% of the people voted for the Democratic Party in the last presidential election, 57.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 5.3% voted for an Independent Party.
In the last Presidential election, Utah remained overwhelmingly Republican, 57.4% to 37.2%.
Utah voted Republican in the previous six Presidential elections.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Utah is moderately conservative.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
Utah, Utah: R R R R R R
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D for the Democrat and I for the Independent. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last four elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Utah
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 88,785 contributions totaling $13,248,221 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $149 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 27,817 contributions totaling $11,345,091 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $408 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)