The aversion to Donald Trump is so strong among Utah Mormons that if the Republican frontrunner secures the party’s presidential nomination, it could produce a general election outcome that has not happened in half a century: the state could go blue.

“The Bible says if you’ve got a wicked leader, the nation suffers,” said Chris Herrod, a former Utah state representative and a Utah campaign coordinator for Ted Cruz. “I’m not saying Donald Trump is wicked, but for most Utahns, the moral character of a leader makes a big difference.”

At the state’s high-stakes GOP caucuses on Tuesday, political experts say many conservative Mormon voters like Herrod will be motivated by their distaste for the real estate billionaire’s vulgar style, bombastic comments and outlandish anti-immigration policies – fueling an “anyone-but-Trump” mentality that has spread across the political spectrum in the very red state.

Mitt Romney says Trump's 'third-grade theatrics' not worthy of presidency Read more

A new Deseret News/KSL poll found Trump would lose to Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders in Utah, while Kasich or Cruz would both win the state by sizeable margins against either Democrat.

At Brigham Young University (BYU), a college in Provo owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), young Republican voters said Trump’s behaviors and actions are fundamentally at odds with Mormon values.

“Trump is despicable – he makes me sick to my stomach,” said Cameron Moon, a 26-year-old Mormon who plans to vote for Cruz. “He’s just really disgusting and vile.” Considering Trump’s racism, sexism and bigotry, Moon said, he would be forced to vote for Clinton over Trump in November.

Jake Lee, a 25-year-old BYU senior and self-described “Tea Party guy”, said he would also – very reluctantly – pick Clinton over Trump. “I’m willing to swallow a pill of four years of bad to allow the Republican party to not have 20 years of horrible,” said Lee, a Cruz supporter, arguing a Trump presidency would damage his party for decades.

“It’s four years of bad with Hillary. It’s four years of despicable with Donald Trump,” added Moon, sitting in a lounge on the BYU campus, where hallways are lined with religious quotes and paintings.

Ashley Busby, a 22-year-old BYU senior and Republican, said she would even go so far as to consider becoming a Democrat if Trump were the GOP candidate. “My vote comes down to making sure Trump isn’t the nominee,” said Busby, who had supported Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio and now plans to vote for Cruz.

“The hatred from the Republican party that I’ve seen during this election – and 90% of it centered around Donald Trump – has made me so sad to be a member of this party,” said Busby, adding that Mormonism teaches basic compassion for others – which Trump completely lacks.

Trump’s 678 delegates have him comfortably ahead in the race – Texas senator Cruz has 423, and Ohio governor John Kasich has only 143. But anti-Trump Republicans are hoping Utah will take a defiant stand against the businessman from New York who has struggled to gain traction among Mormon voters in the west.

How a contested convention could allow Republicans to snatch Trump's crown Read more

On the heels of a Cruz victory in Idaho – which has the second-largest Mormon population in the US and delivered significant losses for Trump in heavily Mormon areas – Utah could potentially offer an even bigger upset for the frontrunner.

With Rubio, Ben Carson and Jeb Bush out of the race, pundits say Cruz could potentially win all 40 of the delegates in Utah, where 63% of the population is Mormon.

“Trump will finish third in Utah,” said Mike Leavitt, former Utah governor and adviser to 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. “Utah voters are not comfortable with the demeanor that he’s portraying, and it’s just very clear that there’s a big chunk of the Utah population that would rather vote for a Democrat.”

In a rare move, the Mormon church, which generally remains neutral in politics, issued a statement in December defending religious freedom and indirectly condemning Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the US.

“We’re concerned about radical Muslims as well,” said Herrod, whose Ukrainian father-in-law was born into a Muslim family and would be presumably be barred from the US if Trump were elected. But Trump, he said, went too far.

In its rebuke, the church referenced a quote from Mormon founder Joseph Smith: “I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any denomination.”

“The LDS population is a worldwide population,” said Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. “A significant number of families here in the state of Utah have children in other parts of the world on missions.”

Trump’s extreme rhetoric on immigration has also been a turnoff for some voters in Utah, which has increasingly emphasized dual-language programs in schools and worked to lure international companies to the state.

Romney’s passionate criticisms of Trump and recent endorsement of Cruz could also sway the state’s voters, and Trump’s comment questioning Romney’s Mormon faith could further hurt him at the Tuesday night caucuses.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for an interview.

Some Utah Mormons are also arguing LDS principles should guide voters to not only snub Trump this week – but to consider crossing the aisle.

Warner Woodworth, a BYU business school professor emeritus, argued Mormon values of equality and “communal care for others” clearly align with Bernie Sanders. “God through our scriptures says that the world lies in sin because of the great gap [in wealth].”

At the least, Woodworth, said he hoped Mormons would be disgusted enough by Trump’s tone that they would make it harder for him to secure the nomination. “The way he talks, the curse words he uses, his racism, his bragging – all of those are so antithetical to Mormon religious values about humility, peace, listening to each other and coming together.”