Study: GOP losing ground among Latter-day Saints
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In a study showing a nationwide conservative lurch across demographics, Latter-day Saints stand out as one of the few groups that have gotten more Democratic in the past two decades.
Why it matters: The shift, reported in a YouGov analysis released last week, could reshape politics in GOP-controlled Utah if it continues.
The big picture: YouGov reviewed results from nearly 700,000 interviews conducted from 2007 to 2025 as part of the Cooperative Election Survey.
- Latter-day Saints remain the second-most Republican religious group surveyed, behind only white evangelicals.
- Yes, but: They are one of only two religious groups that became more Democratic since 2007.
By the numbers: Republicans had a 52% advantage over Democrats among surveyed Latter-day Saints from 2007 to 2009; that shrunk to a 33% advantage in the 2023–2025 period.
- Only Hispanic Catholics saw a comparable shift, but in the opposite direction, with a 19-point jump toward Republicans.
- Of the 12 groups identified, atheists were the only others to become more Democratic-leaning.
Catch up quick: Democrats had hoped to flip enough Latter-day Saints for Kamala Harris to win Arizona in 2024.
- LDS voters have famously shown less enthusiasm for President Trump than for other Republicans.
- Harris outperformed former President Biden among the faith's members — but not enough for Mormonism to deliver Arizona to her.
Zoom in: In a faith that stresses lawfulness, the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and the rise of election denialism may have soured some voters on the GOP.
- A 2022 midterm analysis by BYU sociology professor Jacob Rugh indicated Utah voters exacted a larger anti-MAGA penalty than in other states.
Reality check: In 2024, Trump gained support in Utah over 2020.
- But it's not clear whether those gains came from the state's Latter-day Saints.
Zoom out: The Democratic National Committee is pumping more than $1 million into Utah in hopes of one day turning the state blue.
- DNC Chair Ken Martin told us last year that he sees the state's growing Latino population as key to developing a progressive base here, rather than shifts within Mormonism.