Question of The Day: Will Mormons Vote for A Mormon “Just Because?”

Reader Andy Jackson submits this question:

This surfaced in my mind this morning and I thought I you might blog on it. In the recent past you asked whether evangelicals would vote for a person who was a Mormon. In other words, [the question has been,] would Evangelicals not vote for a candidate just because he/she were Mormon. Well, would Mormons vote for a candidate because he is a Mormon. My guess is yes, but I think this would be an interesting question to explore.

Thanks, Andy. Yes, it is an interesting question. I think the answer is simply no, but I can't get away with that; there's some complexity to the matter, and one of our goals on this blog is to educate. So let me give that a shot. I suspect that some (perhaps many) Mormons would vote for a candidate just because he/she is Mormon, all other things being equal. I also think the same is true for devout adherents of any faith– Catholic, evangelical, Adventist, Jewish. In other words, if two candidates seemed about equal, a religiously committed voter would probably vote for the one closest to his/her religious world view– Mormon, Catholic, or whatever. The reality is that "all other things" are rarely equal. I would never vote for Harry Reid, for example, even though I understand he is a devout Mormon. Mormons vote on issues and candidate qualifications. We are encouraged by our leaders to

study the issues and candidates carefully and prayerfully and then vote for those they believe will most nearly carry out their ideas of good government. Latter-day Saints are under special obligation to seek out and then uphold leaders who will act with integrity and are "wise," "good," and "honest."

This official statement gives more detail. My life-long experience as a politically active Mormon is that my co-religionists are very practical about voting. They want to elect public officials with whom they agree on the issues; Mormonism is a secondary consideration. About 10% of the Mormons in the world live in Utah, and the state's population is about 70% Mormon, so Utah is an interesting laboratory for studying LDS voting patterns. That state's history suggests that it is the man, not his religion, that counts for Mormons. For example, J. Bracken Lee was a major political figure in Utah. He served for two terms as governor of the state from 1949 to 1957, as well as six, two-year terms as Mayor of Price, Utah, from 1935 to 1947, and three terms as mayor of Salt Lake City from 1960 to 1971. "Brack" Lee, a Republican, was not a Mormon, but he defeated a number of Mormons along the way. Lee was no anomaly; this had been going on for a long time. In 1916 a man named Simon Bamberger, a Jew, was elected governor of Utah. Utah History Encyclopedia reports:

LDS Apostle Brigham H. Roberts made what many considered a brilliant speech nominating Bamberger and calling for an end to the selection of candidates on the basis of church affiliation. Bamberger defeated Alfred W. McCune, another wealthy mining man and a Mormon, on the second ballot of the primary election. An anti-Semitic circular depicting Bamberger with a large nose was denounced by most Utahns. Pledged to sign a prohibition bill, he easily defeated Prohibitionist Nephi L. Morris, running in this election as a Republican, becoming the second Jew elected to a U.S. governorship.

Considering that practicting Mormons do not drink alcohol, Bamberger's victory over a prohibitionist is all the more remarkable. So, Andy, no, I do not think Mormons in general will vote blindly for a Mormon candidate just because he is of their faith. Some might; but that's probably true of voters of every religion. [tags]faith, politics, voting, Simon Bamberger, J. Bracken Lee, politics, Mormon, evangelical, Romney, religious bigotry [/tags]