Poll: Clinton, Sanders would beat Trump in Utah

If Donald Trump becomes the GOP nominee, Utah would do the unthinkable: vote for a Democrat for the first time in more than 50 years, according to a poll released by the Deseret News in Salt Lake City.

Both Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would hold off Trump in Utah’s general election, the poll indicated.

{mosads}Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, was slightly ahead of Trump — 38 percent to 36 percent — while Sanders had 48 percent to Trump’s 37 percent.

Those results are surprising for a state that’s voted red in every presidential election since 1964.

“Any matchup in which Democrats are competitive in the state of Utah is shocking,” Chris Karpowitz, co-director of Brigham Young University’s Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy, told the Deseret News.

Polls also have Trump losing in the state’s caucuses Tuesday. A Y2 Analytics survey released Saturday put Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with 53 percent of the vote, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. He is followed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 29 percent and Trump at 11 percent. 

Utah has 40 delegates, and a candidate will take all of them if he receives a majority vote. Candidates have to reach 15 percent of the vote to win delegates.