- A national poll placed "LDS Enclaves" at the top of the list for community and trust.
- Those living in Utah and eastern Idaho were the most likely to prioritize economics.
- This group was also the most likely to worry about political extremism and polarization.
A nationwide survey identified key political priorities that distinguish Americans in so-called “LDS Enclaves” from the rest of the country, including from other conservative Christian strongholds.
More than any other region, counties with a high percentage of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints picked inflation, taxes and government budget debt as the most important issues facing the country, with those living in “Evangelical Hubs” sharing these concerns to almost the same degree.
But while residents of LDS Enclaves tracked closely with the Bible Belt’s Evangelical Hubs on these traditional small government goals, the two groups split in a variety of ways that might point to a lack of populist appeal among the Western electorate.
“A lot of national political analysts group evangelicals and Latter-day Saints together,” said Alex Bass, the author of the Mormon Metrics blog. “I think especially in the Trump era we’re kind of seeing this divergence.”
What are ‘LDS Enclaves’?
Over the past year, Bass, who works as a data scientist for Meta, has used his experience as a former analyst for polling firms Echelon Insights and Morning Consult to dig into statistics related to Latter-day Saints.
Most recently he has focused on the American Communities Project, which surveyed over 5,300 U.S. adults last year based on 15 types of counties, clustered together because of distinct demographic characteristics.
One of these regions, dubbed the “LDS enclave,” covers 39 counties, including nearly all of Utah — except for San Juan County, which is categorized by its heavy Native American population — and 11 counties in eastern Idaho.
The survey found this area, shaped by its concentration of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is noted both for its emphasis on economic issues over cultural clashes, and its unparalleled levels of social trust.
“They’re more interested in Americans coming together despite differences,” Bass said.
On economic issues, those residing in LDS Enclaves appear like conventional Republicans.
Of the 377 LDS Enclave respondents, 66% said inflation was one of the most important issues, 30% said national debt and 12% said taxes. No other group placed as much importance on these issues as those in the LDS Enclave.
Evangelical Hub respondents came close, with 57% prioritizing inflation, 22% debt and 10% taxes. But the similarities between LDS Enclaves and Evangelical Hubs largely end there.
What sets LDS Enclaves apart?
LDS Enclave respondents cared less about abortion, immigration and crime than those from Evangelical Hubs, and cared significantly more about economic inequality, preserving nature and climate change.
One reason why LDS Enclaves may seem more open to environmental issues is because the sample likely includes residents of Democrat-leaning Salt Lake City or Park City, including individuals who are not members of the church, said Stephen Cranney, a demographic data scientist.
But the broader takeaway of Latter-day Saint culture contrasting with evangelical influences is not new, and is confirmed by several other studies, according to Cranney, who is also a Latter-day Saint and a Deseret News contributor.
Daniel Cox, the director of the Survey Center on American Life at the American Enterprise Institute, has been following this growing divide between Latter-day Saints and Evangelicals for several years.
While it doesn’t focus specifically on religious affiliation, Cox said the American Communities Project still provides insight into the influence of the prominent faith traditions in the South and the Intermountain West.
What this data shows, according to Cox, is that residents of LDS Enclaves are more worried about economic management than culture war arguments, in some ways reminiscent of an old-school “Rockefeller Republican.”
“They’re not as animated by a lot of these culture war topics that Donald Trump and parts of the Republican Party seem to be really agitated about,” Cox said. “To put it rather bluntly, they’re not populists, for the most part.”
The reason is likely the unusually high levels of social capital and a preoccupation with turning down the temperature of partisan rhetoric, Cox said, which both run contrary to the conditions that make populism more likely.
A unique community
Evangelical Hubs and LDS Enclaves both shared a concern for election security, but they appeared on opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to addressing political polarization and political extremism.
While LDS Enclaves was the group most likely to prioritize the issue, with around one in five respondents marking it as one of the most important, Evangelical Hubs was among the least likely, with around one in ten prioritizing the issue.
LDS Enclaves also stood out as the group with by far the most confidence in the direction its community was heading — 77% — the most likely to have volunteered at church or for charity, and the most likely to have helped a friend with a small or large task.
Additionally, LDS Enclaves topped, or nearly topped, the list for believing that most people can be trusted and that Americans have more in common than believed.
Ultimately, Cox said, these factors of strong community are what set LDS Enclaves apart and make it a “poor fit for some of the populist pursuits of the modern Republican Party” which is defined by “a lack of social and political trust.”
“So if you have someone like Trump issuing dire warnings about the future and how everything’s going to hell, that is not something that’s all that resonant among LDS folks who feel like things, at least in their communities, are working fairly well,” he said.