Utah's peculiar year in politics

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

68% : But despite a series of unusual electoral changes -- which includes Gov. Spencer Cox's surprising change of heart toward Trump -- the political year was just as remarkable for what stayed the same.
61% : While Trump increased his winning margin by more than 2 percentage points in most states -- including 6.4 points in New York and nearly 5 points in New Jersey and California -- he grew his margin of victory by just 1 percentage point in Utah.
49% : In a year where nearly every county in the United States swung toward Trump, the majority of Utah counties shifted away from him compared to 2020.
43% : "In August, Cox joined Trump as one of a handful of guests at Arlington National Cemetery.
39% : While Trump expressed a desire to replace his archnemesis in the Republican Party with someone more in line with MAGA priorities, neither Staggs nor Walton got anywhere close to clinching Utah's open seat for U.S. Senate.
34% : Months earlier, Trump had again endorsed against Lee's recommendations by putting his thumb on the scale in favor of Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs in the U.S. Senate race even though Lee had reportedly lobbied for Moxie Pest Control CEO Jason Walton.
21% : But while Cox has moved toward Trump, Utah appears to be stuck stubbornly in place.
18% : In July, following the Butler County, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt against Trump, Cox reversed his longtime position of distancing himself from the former president and endorsed him.

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