Donald Trump won Utah during each of his three presidential elections — and Utahns are growing more and more fond of the twice-impeached president-elect.
Trump’s vote share in Utah’s 2024 election sits at 59.1% statewide, an increase from previous elections, according to early returns on Thursday.
Trump got 45.5% of the statewide vote in 2016 when Evan McMullin — a member of the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and former CIA employee — ran for the nation’s highest elected office. Then, nearly 22% of Utahns wanted McMullin in the White House.
The then-incumbent president’s vote share increased to 58% in 2020. Though his statewide vote share is larger this year, based on the unofficial returns.
Trump’s rise in popularity in the Beehive State follows felony convictions, being found liable for sexual assault and prominent members of the LDS Church urging others not to vote for him.
Following those felony convictions and a failed assassination attempt against Trump, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox reversed years of criticism of Trump this summer by endorsing the GOP nominee. Cox’s campaign later tried raising money off an image of the two men together at a graveside ceremony at Arlington National Cemetary, a decision Cox later said was a mistake by his reelection campaign.
Trump is outperforming Cox this year in the statewide votes.
U.S. Sen. Mike Lee has also gone from anti-Trump organizer to one of the president-elect’s most devoted fans in Congress.
In this year’s election, and as votes are still being counted, Trump’s vote share has varied from 38.6% in Summit County to 88.7% in Piute County.
He’s gained votes in 23 counties since the 2016 election, and in eight counties, mostly in southern Utah, since the 2020 election.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrat’s nominee, received her highest vote share in Summit County with 59.9%. So far, she’s won, according to the early return, three counties: Grand, Salt Lake and Summit.
While votes are still being counted, Harris gained votes since President Joe Biden’s 2020 election in nine rural counties — but those gains were about 450 votes at most and were overshadowed by lost votes in urban counties. For example, Harris and Walz had 87,000 fewer votes in Salt Lake County, as of Thursday afternoon, than Biden and Harris got in 2020.
This story will be updated as more ballots are counted.
Megan Banta is The Salt Lake Tribune’s data enterprise reporter, a philanthropically supported position. The Tribune retains control over all editorial decisions.
