Former President Donald Trump has pulled ahead in the Utah Republican primary race, a recent Deseret News/Hinkley Institute poll found.
The survey noted that Trump has “struggled to win the trust of voters in Utah,” despite leading in national polls as well as several other state-level surveys, leading in DeSantis’s home state of Florida, as well as New Hampshire and South Carolina.
“DeSantis has shown signs of strength in the state, but the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll shows him falling behind,” the survey reported.
Previously, DeSantis stood as the frontrunner in the state with a one-point edge, 27 percent to Trump’s 26 percent support. But now, Trump has taken the lead with 29 percent support — a three point increase. DeSantis, in turn, comes in second with 24 percent support, losing three points since the last survey.
No other candidate saw double-digit support, as former Vice President Mike Pence came in a distant third with six percent support. Another four percent chose both former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Rep. Liz Cheney, the latter of whom is not in the race.
Three percent chose former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, followed by two percent who chose anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. Remaining candidates saw less than one percent support. Nine percent said “another candidate,” and 16 percent remain unsure.
2024 Utah Republican Primary
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) July 21, 2023
• Trump — 29% (+5)
• DeSantis — 24%
• Pence — 6%
• Christie — 4%
• Cheney — 4%
• Haley — 3%
• Scott — 2%
• Ramaswamy — 2%@hinckleyinst | 06/26-07/04 | 495 RV https://t.co/KcXkwsxrG2
The survey was taken June 26–July 4, 2023, among 485 registered Utah Republican voters and has a +/- 4 percent margin of error.
Matthew Burbank, a political science professor at the University of Utah, observed that the survey reflects the reality that Trump is the leading candidate, despite his past “struggles” in Utah.
“But I think what we see from Republican primaries in general right now is it looks like Trump is the leading candidate. DeSantis is sort of the preferred alternative for Republican voters,” he said.
One-third of respondents also noted that they look for “moral character” in a leader, followed by 17 percent who said “trustworthiness” and 13 percent who said “business experience.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) won Utah in the March 2016 primary with 69.2 percent of the vote.
