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SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns don't like Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, and they dislike Republican front-runner Donald Trump even more.
Yet when the two go head-to-head in a new poll, The Donald wins.
The BYU Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy found that 69 percent of Utah voters have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton and 28 percent a favorable impression.
As for Trump, 73 percent have an unfavorable opinion of him while 22 percent have a favorable opinion.
But if the 2016 presidential election were held between the two today, 54 percent of Utahns would vote for Trump and 46 percent for Clinton, according to the poll.
"I think this shows the power of party identification," said Chris Karpowitz, co-director of the BYU elections and democracy center. "People still chose the least-palatable Republican over the Democrat."
Utah is one of the most Republican states in the nation, voting solidly for GOP presidential candidates the past 50 years. In 1992, Bill Clinton finished third behind the Republican and independent candidates.
People still chose the least-palatable Republican over the Democrat.
–Chris Karpowitz, BYU elections and democracy center
The BYU center invited a group of nearly 9,500 voters who were recruited at polling places across Utah on Election Day between 2004 and 2014 to complete the online survey Aug. 11-17.
Of those, 1,311 completed the poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percent.
Survey respondents were not given a "I-would-not-vote" option in the Trump-Clinton matchup, but Karpowitz said it's possible that many Utahns simply wouldn't go the polls in that scenario.
Karpowitz said the survey pitted Trump against Clinton to see whether the race would be competitive or if any matchups would make Utah a swing state.
"It turns out that even Donald Trump appears to win rather handily over the likely Democratic nominee," he said.
But in the end, Karpowitz said he doesn't expect Trump will win the GOP nomination.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and GOP hopeful Ben Carson drew the highest favorable responses at 46 percent and 45 percent, respectively, according to the poll.
None of the 22 potential candidates on the survey had lower favorability ratings than Trump and Clinton. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee came closest with 65 percent having a negative opinion of him.
#poll
