SALT LAKE CITY — Slightly more Utahns say they don’t want President Donald Trump impeached than those who back removing him from office, according to the latest UtahPolicy.com poll.
Forty-seven percent of Utahns agreed that Congress should not impeach Trump and he should remain in office, while 43% said the president should be impeached and removed from office. Just 10% said they weren’t sure how they feel about the proceedings expected to result in a House vote for impeachment on Wednesday.
“The impeachment hearings and the vote tomorrow are not really changing minds,” UtahPolicy.com publisher LaVarr Webb said Tuesday. “In talking to a lot of people, my impression is a plurality at least of Utahns may not like what the president did, but they don’t think it rises to the level that he ought to be removed from office,”
An October poll for the online political news source found that 47% of Utahns opposed the inquiry into allegations Trump pressured a foreign leader to go after a political rival in the 2020 presidential race, while 53% agreed either there was already enough evidence for impeachment or that Congress should continue investigating.
The latest poll for UtahPolicy.com by Y2 Analytics was conducted Nov. 19 through Dec. 7 among 911 registered Utah voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points. Breakdowns with the sample have a higher margin of error.
There was a strong partisan divide in the poll, with 98% of Utahns who identify as strong Democrats agreeing Trump should be impeached, compared to 92% of those who call themselves strong Republicans opposing impeachment. Among independents, the split was 45% in favor of impeachment and 43% opposed.
Among Utahns who see themselves as independent voters who lean Democrat, 89% say the president should be impeached. That’s compared to 27% of independent voters who lean Republican and agreed Trump should go. Webb said there’s clearly a stronger intensity of feeling on the issue among Democrats.
“I think it reflects kind of what happened in the 2016 election, with Trump winning with a plurality but Republicans not getting all that excited about him,” he said. Utah, considered one of the most Republican states in the nation, went for Trump in the last presidential election, but gave him just 45.5% of the vote.
The new poll numbers come after the only Democrat in Utah’s congressional delegation, Rep. Ben McAdams, announced he will vote for impeachment. McAdams, who won the 4th Congressional District seat in 2018 by less than 700 votes, is viewed as possibly the nation’s most vulnerable Democratic House member.
Webb said the opposition to impeachment in the poll, while small, helps Utah’s other House members — Reps. Rob Bishop, Chris Stewart and John Curtis, who have already said they’re voting against impeachment, along with all of their fellow Republicans.
“I do think that a four-point plurality isn’t a lot, but it’s still enough that the rest of the delegation can certainly say they’re voting the way Utahns favor (and) prefer them to vote,” he said. “A lot will depend on who the Democrats nominate but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Trump win with a higher margin than he did last time.”
The poll also asked Utahns whether they approve or disapprove of the impeachment inquiry conducted in the House. There was a divide there, too, with 50% saying they approve of the Democratic-led House inquiry and 47% disapproving. Just 4% weren’t sure how they felt.
Most Utahns are paying at least some attention to the proceedings, according to the poll. Thirty-two percent said they are following the media coverage closely and 42% said they are following it somewhat, compared to 16% who said they’re not really following the story and 11% who said they’re not following it at all.