Posted by:
scarecrowfromoz
(
)
Date: September 09, 2013 07:50PM
I think there are a number of reasons, and I'll throw out some thoughts in no particular order.
1. Mormonism is not just a religion, it is a culture and lifestyle. Even for those that have left or inactive, most were raised conservative/Republican.
2. I think something like 90% of TBMs are Republican (if I'm remembering studies correctly). 60% in UT (in name mormon); half active = 30%; 90% of 30% = 27% of votes to start with are Republican TBM. Let's say the remaining 40% are 1/3 R, 1/3 D, 1/3 Independent. That leaves R with about 27 + 13 or 40% to start with.
3. Gerrymandering. Not only does it happen for dividing up for the House of Reps, where being in suburbs south of SLC I did have the one Utah D for a Rep., they gerrymandered me into being with Provo/Orem, so now I have the wackadoodle J. C. for a Rep. It happens with districts for State and House Reps., too. Gerrymander to increase your power. A few non-R can win in local elections, but not enough to make a big difference. See the map for the U.S. House where they have gerrymandered to divide up (more liberal) SLC area by putting parts with strong Republican areas (1, 2, 3).
http://elections.utah.gov/map/district-maps4. There are two parties in Utah. Conservative Republican, and moderate Republican [Democrat]. A moderate Democrat, or liberal Democrat has little hope of winning. [See #1]
5. Get out of the big cities, and some areas (although small) are 90%+ mormon. A few years ago I remember there was one small UT county that had only one registered Dem. Look at all the areas that get representatives in the UT Senate:
http://www.utahsenate.org/mapold.shtmlI count 9 of 29 where you can read numbers that are almost guaranteed Republican. They dilute anything that may be coming from more liberal areas around SLC.