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We are professors of political science sharing academic research relevant to Utah. Posts are not peer reviewed and may discuss work in progress that is subject to future revision. Learn more. Each post reflects only its author’s views.
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Monthly Archives: May 2011
Could Republicans win all four U.S. House districts?
This movement toward the GOP represents a continuation of a rightward trend that began decades ago In a few days, we’ll post Census data showing that Hispanics (who often vote Democratic) have become a larger percentage of the state’s population. … Continue reading
Which counties will gain and lose seats in the Utah legislature?
Utah County and Davis County (combined) need to gain three districts, but Salt Lake County needs to lose three. Utah’s House of Representatives has 75 districts. Although most people seem to be talking about how the legislature will draw Utah’s … Continue reading
How has Utah’s population grown since 2000?
With each district losing between 22% and 28% of its population to the new district, a wholesale redrawing of district lines is likely. Utah’s rapid population growth over the past 10 years has earned it a fourth seat in Congress. … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged congress, demographics, redistricting
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Who could run for Speaker or Senate President?
What makes a legislator a good candidate for leadership? Last fall, Becky Lockhart narrowly won the support of her fellow House Republicans and became the new Speaker, ousting David Clark. Meanwhile, Michael Waddoups fought off a challenge from Dan Liljenquist, … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged ideology, leadership, legislature, median voter theorem, nominate, senate president, speaker of the house
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Who is REALLY the most conservative Utah legislator?
Interest group ratings are certainly useful, but it turns out there’s a much, much better way to figure out which legislators are most conservative and most liberal. Credit where it’s due: Robert Richards, my undergraduate research assistant extraordinaire, contributed heavily … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged ideology, legislature, measurement, nominate, rankings, roll call votes
2 Comments
How do you interpret public opinion data?
As Adam pointed out in his post earlier, the Deseret News story seems to make a conflict out of two findings that probably do not conflict. The seemingly different findings can be reconciled when a few basics about the nature … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged commentary, immigration
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Two conflicting BYU studies on immigration?
Taking these two studies together, we find that (1) many people don’t know the LDS Church’s stance, but (2) those who do know it tend to move in the Church’s direction, at least if they are LDS Republicans. Today, the … Continue reading
Posted in Everything
Tagged immigration, mormons, polls, utah compact, utah county, utah voter poll
1 Comment
Redistricting backgrounders
Over the next couple weeks, we will publish several posts looking at Utah’s ongoing redistricting process. We’ll begin by looking closely at the 2010 U.S. Census results and discussing what they might mean for redistricting. We’ll also take a look … Continue reading →