Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a “Latter-Day Saints for Trump” coalition less than a month before Election Day, as the campaign looks to shore up support among a key voting bloc in which defections could be particularly damaging in key western battlegrounds.
Among the leaders heading the coalition are four prominent Utah Republicans: Sen. Mike Lee, Rep. Celeste Maloy, Rep. Burgess Owens and state Attorney General Sean Reyes.
“President Trump has consistently stood by our side in defending both, ensuring that Latter-day Saints and people of all faiths can worship freely and live according to our beliefs,” Lee said. “His dedication to life and protecting the unborn has fortified our families’ foundations, and his leadership is exactly what America needs to preserve the God-given rights that make us strong and free.”
While the church’s home is based in Utah, which has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964, there is a significant Latter-day Saints population in Arizona — more than 442,879, according to the church. President Joe Biden won Arizona by 11,000 votes in 2020.
Exit polls show Biden won 18% of the LDS vote in Arizona, a significant defection from a reliably conservative denomination rooted in traditional family values. Latter-day Saints voters’ steadfast support for GOP candidates has long helped keep Utah and Idaho — the states with the largest share of LDS voters — impenetrably red on election nights.
Arizona Republicans signing onto the Trump-LDS coalition include Rep. Andy Biggs and Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who ran an unsuccessful Senate campaign this year.
Lamb said he believed Trump would protect his religious freedom and his right to “raise and protect” his family.
The former president plans to hold a roundtable with Latter-day Saints leaders on Sunday in Arizona, according to a campaign aide.
But some LDS voters have soured on Trump based on his often divisive political style — as well as his attacks on immigrants and refugees — which run contrary to the denomination’s ministry and culture.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has sought to exploit this tension within the community and create a permission structure to back her instead, focusing on character and a more moderate personal — if politically progressive — style.
The Harris campaign hosts a “Latter Day Saints for Harris-Walz coalition on its website and launched an advisory committee in Arizona last month.
Others who signed onto the new Trump-LDS coalition include retired Air Force four-star general and retired general authority of the Mormon church Robert Oaks, conservative media commentator Glenn Beck and entertainment personalities “The Diesel Brothers.”
In another sign of his growing influence within the Trump campaign, a campaign aide told NBC News that Donald Trump Jr. was a key figure in launching the LDS coalition for Trump, noting he has strong relationships with members of the Mormon community.
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