Utahns Still Mostly Undecided on Presidential Field; Bush and Clinton in the Lead

While no candidate enjoys majority support, Utahns seem to be edging toward Republican Jeb Bush and Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. While no candidate enjoys majority support, Utahns seem to be edging toward Republican Jeb Bush and Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race.

A new UtahPolicy.com survey finds 18% of Utahns back Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in the GOP race. That's more than double the support of his closest rivals in the Beehive State. Both businessman Donald Trump and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul get 9% in our survey. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker pulls 8% while Florida Senator Marco Rubio wins 7%. Both New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Texas Senator Ted Cruz sit at 6%. The number of Utahns, who expressed no preference, is 14%.

When asked about the Democratic field, the race is much tighter. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the frontrunner in Utah at 19%, followed by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders at 17%. Current Vice President Joe Biden gets 10%. More than a quarter of Utahns (28%) said they didn't know.

The survey was taken before the first Republican primary debate, where the top-10 candidates made the stage in Cleveland. Most observers thought Trump, who is leading in many national polls, alienated many Republicans with his bombastic and borderline offensive remarks during that event. The only poll published after that event is a Florida survey showing Trump with a one-point lead over Bush. That close margin is likely not indicative of where the Republican race stands following the debate as it was conducted in Bush's home state.

Among Utah Republicans in our survey, Bush was far and away the leader at 22%. His next closest rival was Walker at 11% while Rubio garnered 9%. Trump's support among Utah Republicans stands at 8%.

Democrats in Utah are decidedly behind Clinton's candidacy at this point. She leads Sanders among that group by 20 percentage points, 50-30%. Biden is a distant third at 12%.

Clinton made a fundraising stop in Utah last week where she pulled in $300,000 during an event in Park City.

It's interesting that, among all Utahns, Sanders is within a few percentage points of Clinton. Two New Hampshire polls in the last week show Clinton with a single-digit lead over Sanders. However, an Iowa survey had Clinton with a 27-point lead over Sanders, while she leads Sanders by 18-points in Minnesota and a whopping 70-points in South Carolina.

Dan Jones & Associates conducted our survey from July 14-21 among 601 Utah residents. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.97%.