Friday, November 9, 2012

More Mormons Voted For Bush Than Romney


Here's an interesting data point from Tuesday's election. George Bush actually received a larger share of the Mormon vote in 2004, as compared to Romney in 2012.

2004

Bush:   80%
Kerry: 19%

2012

Romney: 78%
Obama:  21%

Considering that the 2004 turnout greatly exceeded that of 2012, I assume Bush received many more Mormon votes in terms of the raw vote total as well.

The numbers are likely within the margin of error, but it does surprise me a little. Could it be that many Republican Mormons in states that heavily favored Romney stayed home? It's a valid question, but Bush was heavily favored in those states as well. I suspect Mia Love is asking the same thing.....

Data courtesy of Pew Research

Cross posted at Redstate

6 comments:

cimbri said...

Maybe the Huntsmans paid people to stay home.

Anonymous said...

I find this hard to believe. but it's RWN so take his info with a huge grain of salt.

Anonymous said...

It's true. You'd be surprised how many of my fellow members I heard saying, "Just because Romney is Mormon doesn't mean I'm going to vote for him," which I took to mean, "I can't vote for him because people will think I'm just a blind sheeple and that's embarrassing."

Sad that certain demographics have no problem being pigeon-holed like this and voting 99% for the guy in their group while those with principles end up overly concerned with the appearance of favoritism due to association.

Inside joke for Mormons: I told my mom 20% of Mormons voted for Barack Obama and it was the parable of the 5 foolish virgins coming true. She said that would be 2 foolish virgins. Sorry guys, still got a few more years before the Bridegroom comes.

-Katrina

Dave said...

Given the fact that there are a lot more Mormons in the country than there were in 2004, it's safe to say that more Mormons voted for Romney than Bush.

The difference in percentage is probably due, in fact, to the new members coming in....including many of other ethnicities or backgrounds.

Right Wingnut said...

Dave,

I'm interested in whatever evidence you have to back that up.

Christopher Roberts said...

I think the percent difference reflects the increasing diversity in the church. Polling numbers suggest that race and ethnicity played a bigger role than religion in the election. Non-white Catholics voted for Obama despite very strong messages from the church opposing Obama administration policies. Romney's wealth hurt him among Mormons, just as it did among other demographics. If Romney reminded you of your self-righteous wealthy neighbor who constantly cites Book of Mormon passages as proof that his wealth and righteousness are linked, a vote against Romney may be a proxy vote of revenge. :(