Trump leads in three-way race for Utah

Donald Trump has the lead in a three-way race for deep red Utah, but independent candidate Evan McMullin continues to make the race interesting.

A Monmouth University survey released Thursday found Trump taking 37 percent support, followed by Hillary Clinton, at 31 percent, McMullin, at 24 percent, and Libertarian Gary Johnson, at 4 percent.

That order is unchanged from the previous survey from October, when Trump, Clinton and McMullin lined up at 34, 28 and 20, respectively.

“It’s been nearly 50 years since a third party candidate won any state’s electoral votes. That streak should remain intact,” said Monmouth pollster Patrick Murray. “While McMullin has cut into Trump’s partisan support, the independent candidate has not broken out of third place.”

Utah has gone for the Republican nominee in every election since 1964. If Trump cannot hold on there, it will almost certainly doom his presidential hopes.

The GOP nominee has struggled mightily to win over Republicans in Utah, which has the nation’s largest population of Mormons.

Mormon voters making up 60 percent of the electorate there, and many have been turned off by Trump.

Many have protested Trump’s candidacy by throwing their support to McMullin, a Brigham Young University graduate and fellow Mormon. 

Still, Trump takes a plurality of Mormon voters in the state, with 43 percent support compared to McMullin’s 37 percent.

Trump only has the support of 56 percent of Republicans in Utah, with McMullin at 34 percent.

Trump and Clinton both have negative favorability ratings in the state.

Trump is at 22 percent positive and 67 percent negative, while Clinton is at 23 percent favorable and 66 percent negative. McMullin is viewed positively by 36 percent, while 16 percent have a negative view of him. 

The Monmouth University survey of 402 likely voters in Utah was conducted between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2 and has a 4.9 percentage point margin of error.