Utah Politics

I don't think that Utah is the most conservative state in the nation, but it's right up there. We still have one Democrat Representative in Congress. Around 70% of the population are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (called colloquially Mormons). About 40% of those are active, which means they go to church and donate time in callings. About 30% of Salt Lake City is LDS.

Utah tried for 50 years to be admitted to as the Union as a state, but was refused because of the antipathy to the Mormons. State and Church leaders were told that, in order to be acceptable, the territory would have to have a functioning two-party system. At the time, Mormons were nearly all Democrats. Church leaders would go to congregations and tell them that henceforth, everyone one one side would be Republicans. Today, the majority of the state is Republican because the Democrats have continually adopted positions that are repugnant to believing LDS members. Most Democrats here are probably more conservative than most Republicans are nationally. It's interesting to note that many LDS leaders are Democrats and a number of LDS Democrats are in Congress. Harry Reid, the senator from Nevada, is LDS. So, there is nothing about being LDS that requires one to be a Republican. However, most Utah politicians remind me of Orrin Hatch, with whom I generally agree, but of whom I'm not fond.

We have two statewide newspapers, The Deseret News, which is owned by the LDS Church, and the Salt Lake Tribune, which was founded to attack the LDS Church in the early days and has done so ever since. ("Deseret" refers to honey bees. The name is from the Book of Mormon. The state symbol is a beehive, signifying industry in the "hard work" sense.) Soon, the Desert News will begin publishing as a morning paper. It has been an afternoon paper, but losing readership. It was blocked from switching to a.m. publication by a joint operating agreement with the Tribune, which refused its consent. Recently, the Tribune changed management, which has opened the way for a.m. publication for the News.