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Originally published on Deseret News June 12, 2024, 9:00 p.m. MDT by Samuel Benson.

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Former President Donald Trump maintains a dominant lead over President Joe Biden in Utah, according to a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll.

In a head-to-head matchup between Biden and Trump, 57% of Utahns said they would support Trump if the election were held today, nearly mirroring Trump’s vote share in Utah during the 2020 election. One quarter of voters said they would support Biden, down from the 38% of Utah voters that backed him in 2020. Eighteen percent of voters are undecided.

Though independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. draws more voters from Trump than Biden, Trump still dominates in a three-way race. When offered the three candidates as options, 49% say they’d vote for Trump, while Biden and Kennedy each garner 20%.

Kennedy has visited Utah twice since launching his independent presidential campaign last fall. In November, Kennedy held a rally in Salt Lake City, and in January, he returned in Utah to celebrate qualifying for ballot access. Utah was the first state to grant Kennedy a place on its ballot.

Biden visited Utah in August, though he held no public campaign events, opting instead for a private fundraiser in Park City. Trump has not visited Utah this cycle: Plans for a June fundraiser in Park City were scrapped when a CNN debate was planned for the same date. Organizers are hoping to reschedule the event for late July or late August, an individual with knowledge of the plans said.

Utah is widely expected to be an uncompetitive state in 2024. The Republican presidential nominee has won every presidential election in Utah since 1964. In 2020, Trump defeated Biden by 20 points; in 2016, even as independent candidate Evan McMullin won over 20 percent of the vote, Trump beat Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton by 18 points.

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