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The Conservatism of Mormon Legislators

- July 20, 2012

bq. When it comes to making policy, Mormons take a backseat to no one on conservative ideological purity.

bq. We examined the voting records of every Mormon United States senator serving from 1976 through the early years of the 21st century. (The behavior of senators can give us a good approximation of the decisions that a future president might make because senators routinely deal with issues of national and international importance that governors and even members of the House of Representatives don’t.) There have been a total of 11 Mormon senators—eight Republicans and three Democrats—from seven states since 1976. On average, they are quite a bit more ideologically conservative than their non-Mormon colleagues.

They are also more conservative than evangelicals or Catholics, even among Republicans.  See this piece by Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz and John McTague.