Utah has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1964, but Donald Trump’s lewd comments about women have enraged socially conservative voters, and a little-known candidate could come out on top there.
Independent Evan McMullin and Hillary Clinton are virtually tied with Trump in Utah according to a new poll conducted by Salt Lake City firm Y2 Analytics.
McMullin, a 40-year-old former CIA officer and chief policy director for the House Republican Conference, describes himself as “principled, consistent and conservative” on his campaign website. He’s in favor of free trade and against abortion rights.
“I’m a conservative. I’m the only conservative in this race,” McMullin said to a Salt Lake City TV station. “I believe that Donald Trump is wholly unfit to be president. He’s not a conservative; his temperament is awful. He likes to attack the vulnerable.”
Trump and Clinton are tied with 26 percent support in the poll with McMullin close behind at 22 percent. Libertarian Gary Johnson takes 14 percent in the survey, conducted Oct. 10-11 with 500 likely voters in Utah. The survey’s margin of error is 4.4 percentage points.
McMullin, a Utah native and Mormon, presents himself as the “true conservative” alternative to Trump. His weakness – common among third party candidates – is that 48 percent of Utah voters don’t know him. But McMullin receives positive marks from the 52 percent of voters who do know him: Four out of five view him positively.
That’s in stark contrast to Clinton and Trump, as both have unfavorable ratings of 70 percent in Utah.