Utahns favor Sen. Bob Dole over all other GOP presidential candidates, the latest Deseret News/
KSL poll shows.And that's good for Utah Republicans, because after Dole's sweep of the Super Tuesday primaries it appears he will be the Republican Party's nominee this year.
In a poll conducted March 2-6, before some of the Republican field quit the race, pollster Dan Jones & Associates found that 42 percent of Utahns favor Dole as the GOP nominee.
There is no presidential primary in Utah, so residents don't get a direct vote. Utah Republicans will pick their 28 delegates to the national convention from slates proposed in the May state GOP convention. But it is likely Dole delegates will be picked.
In fact, Russ Behrmann, state GOP executive director, said if Dole has already won enough delegates to ensure his nomination before the Utah state GOP convention, it is likely special interest groups within the Utah Republican Party will run their own slates of Dole delegates in an effort to influence the national party platform and/or Dole's selection of a vice presidential running mate.
Behrmann said the Utah party is trying to get Dole to be the keynote speaker at the state GOP convention, scheduled for May 3-4. If Dole comes, the Republicans may hold the convention in the newly rebuilt Salt Palace; otherwise it will probably be in Cottonwood High School, said Behrmann.
Dole held a very successful fund-raiser in Utah in January, and state GOP officials hope he will return to help raise some local party funds before the November election.
Jones found that among those who said they are Republicans, 60 percent support Dole's candidacy, 12 percent favor Steve Forbes, 8 percent like Pat Buchanan, 6 percent didn't like any of the contenders, 4 percent picked Lamar Alexander and 2 percent picked some other Republican. Nine percent of the Republicans didn't know, Jones found.
Some may have believed that Buchanan should have done better in Utah, a conservative state. But Buchanan gets much of his support from the Christian Right, and while there are moral conservative groups in Utah, they are not tied to a Christian Right. Most Utah groups are made up of conservative members of the LDS Church.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Deseret News/KSL poll
Which of the following candidates would you like to see win the Republican presidential nomination?
LAMAR ALEXANDER 5%
PAT BUCHANAN 10%
BOB DOLE 42%
STEVE FORBES 13%
SOMEONE ELSE 3%
NONE OF THE ABOVE 15%
DON'T KNOW 11%
Poll conducted Mar. 2-6, 1996, 607 residents. Margin of error +/-4%. Survey conducted by Dan Jones & Associates. Copyright 1996 Deseret News.