As vote tallies were being finalized last week, President-elect Trump appeared to have won Utah by a bigger margin than he did in 2020 — despite early reports that the state was one of just two where he lost ground.

Why it matters: Trump gained votes in a state that has long been viewed as lukewarm toward him.

The big picture: Utah has a reputation for Republican moderation despite being a reliably red state.

• Democrats specifically held out hope that Utah's religious culture of obedience would weigh on voters' reaction to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot and Trump's felony convictions, driving down Republican support.

Reality check: Trump won with 59.4% of the vote, outperforming his 58.1% victory in 2020.

Catch up quick: Early 2024 election returns led to claims that Utah and Washington were the only two states where Trump lost vote share from 2020 — but that proved to be a hasty call.

• Trump pulled ahead of his 2020 margins in both states as more votes were counted.

Zoom in: Trump's biggest countywide gains were in San Juan (+5.7%), Tooele and Summit (both up about 2.4%).

The intrigue: Trump also made gains in all but one of Utah's five most populous counties — Davis County, where his vote share fell about half a point.

• In Utah County, for example, Trump received more than 10,600 more votes this year than he did in 2020, gaining about a half a point of the vote share.

Stunning stat: Trump won with less than 70% of votes in just 10 of Utah's 29 counties — and his vote share still grew in all but two of them (Davis and Cache).

Between the lines: As in 2020, Trump generally underperformed other Republicans on the ballot.

• And across most of the ballot, he underperformed by a greater degree this year than in 2020, which could suggest a growing gap in Republican enthusiasm for Trump versus local candidates.

Caveat: Gov. Spencer Cox and Attorney General-elect Derek Brown both underperformed Trump, winning 53% and 58%, respectively.

• But those races were affected by candidates outside the two major parties, with Phil Lyman's write-in gubernatorial campaign absorbing votes on Cox's right, and a partisan free-for-all in the AG race.

Flashback

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Thanksgiving is Thursday and if you resent the idea of grueling kitchen work and hours of clean-up, let someone else do it for you.

State of play: These Salt Lake City restaurants are offering Turkey Day specials and still have room to host you.

Pro tip: Don't wait. These tables are going fast.

🍳 Emigration Cafe: The Yalecrest eatery is offering a Turkey Day brunch buffet with breakfast and traditional Thanksgiving fare.

• Reservations
• Hours: 10am-3pm
• Cost: $65 per adult; $24 for kids ages 11 and younger; $10 for kids ages 5 and under

🍽️ Hub & Spoke Diner: Chicken and waffles, candied yams and Thanksgiving classics will be served buffet-style at this Sugar House diner. Patio seating is first-come, first-serve.

• Reservations.
• Cost: $44.99 per adult; $22.49 for children under 12
• Hours: 9:30am-2:45pm

🦃 Urban Hill: The Granary District's fine-dining restaurant is offering a buffet-style Thanksgiving dinner with ancho chile turkey, maple-cinnamon glazed ham and butternut squash mac n' cheese.

• Reservations.
• Hours: 1-5pm
• Cost: $85 for adults and $35 for children ages 5-12. Children under age 4 eat for free.

A few more

🍸 Club Verse, an LGBTQ+ bar on State Street, has closed after opening in 2022. Ownership cited its closure to personal health and financial issues in a social media post. (Salt Lake Tribune)

🏛️ Senator-elect John Curtis was named among a group of four senators opposed to nominating Trump's previous attorney general pick Matt Gaetz. (New York Times)

• Gaetz withdrew his bid last week amid increasing pressure for the release of a House Ethics Committee report into sexual misconduct allegations against him. Gaetz has vehemently denied the claims.

📖 The new "Folklore Bookshop" in Midway has opened and aims to be a community space. It features a laptop bar and will eventually add a hot drink station. (Deseret News)

Utah is among a majority of states that have had a woman in the governor's seat.

Driving the news: A record-setting 13 women will be governors in 2025 once New Hampshire Gov.-elect Kelly Ayotte takes office, making up 26% of U.S. governors.

Catch up quick: The late Olene Walker, a Republican, became Utah's first — and so far only — woman governor in 2003.

• The state's first woman lieutenant governor was sworn in after then-Gov. Michael Leavitt stepped down to head the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush. She was succeeded by Jon Huntsman Jr.
• She notably vetoed a public school voucher bill to the dismay of Republicans and backed programs for the development of early literacy skills during her 14-month term.

Between the lines: Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, who just secured her second term as the state's top elections officer, is the second woman to hold the No. 2 office.

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On Oct. 3, 1863, President Lincoln issued the proclamation designating the November holiday of Thanksgiving.

• The news reached Utah a few days later.

Good luck preparing for Thursday's feast, whether you're dining out, grabbing the meal to go or DIY'ing it the good old fashioned way!