WASHINGTON — When Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., steps down from the Senate in early 2017, Mormonism will lose its highest-ranking elected official — and the most high-profile proof that, yes, there is such a thing as a Mormon Democrat.
Mormons are the most Republican religious group in America, and they are moving to the right. A 2007 Pew study found about 66 percent identify with the party. By 2012, Pew found that figure had risen, and 74 percent of Mormons identified as Republican.
In an address at Brigham Young University in 2007, Reid talked about what it was like being a Democrat in a deeply Republican faith.
“It is not uncommon for members of the church to ask how I can be a Mormon and a Democrat,” he said. “Some say my party affiliation puts me in the minority of our church members. But my answer is that if you look at the church membership over the years, Democrats have not always been the minority, and I believe we won’t be for long. I also say that my faith and political beliefs are deeply intertwined. I am a Democrat because I am a Mormon, not in spite of it.”
When Reid was first elected to Congress in the 1980s, about 70 percent of Utah Mormons voted Republican. By 2012, that figure reached 90 percent — although having a fellow Mormon on the ticket in 2012 certainly could be a factor in the record-breaking percentage.
Reid’s prediction that Democrats won’t always be in the minority in the church came several years before the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would show it doesn’t toe the party line on some hot-button Republican issues.
In 2010, the church backed immigration proposals that kept families together and focused on criminal activity rather than federal violations. This year, legislation protecting Utah’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in employment and housing was applauded by LGBT groups.
Mormon Democrats are more likely to be women and less likely to be white, mirroring Democratic demographics nationally, but unlike national trends, they’re also more likely to be older.
Fight looms for Reid’s seat
LAS VEGAS — Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to retire next year leaves no clear successor in Nevada.
As of Friday, the list of potential candidates came down to Gov. Brian Sandoval and everyone else. Sandoval didn’t deliver an unequivocal “no” Friday but he made clear the 2016 contest wasn’t on his agenda.
Reid quickly blessed former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto to run for his seat, while Rep. Dina Titus, another Democrat, said she would consider a bid. — The Associated Press
