SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Sen. Mitt Romney is viewed more favorably among Democrats than he is among Republicans, a new national poll shows.

© Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Mitt Romney meets with the Deseret News editorial board in the Deseret News building in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 30, 2018.

Gallup found 56% of Democrats but just 23% of Republicans now hold favorable views of the first-term GOP senator. Compared with Gallup’s survey in February 2019, his favorable rating is up 19 points among Democrats and down 22 points among Republicans.

Recent Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics polls found that already to be the case among Utah Democrats and Republicans.

But Romney’s decision last week to back the Republicans’ investigation of Hunter Biden’s actions in Ukraine could quickly temper Democrats’ opinion of him, according to Gallup.

Overall, his 39% favorability among Americans is unchanged from a year ago.

Gallup conducted the survey Feb. 17-28 with a random sample of 1,020 adults in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, was the only Republican senator to vote to convict President Donald Trump on one of two articles of impeachment. His vote drew criticism and praise around the country.

In Utah, voters’ reaction to Romney’s decision was 49% positive compared to 40% negative, with 11% not sure, according to a Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll.

Another Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll released last week also found Romney’s approval rating higher among Democrats than among Republicans. In that survey, 61% of Democrats approve of his job performance compared to 48% of Republicans.

An early February poll also showed Romney with more support among Democrats than Republicans in the state, which changed from a January poll in which more than half of Republicans in the state approved of the senator.

In the latest survey, Romney’s overall job approval rating was 52%, relatively unchanged from previous polls.