Utah: Romney, Obama win
WASHINGTON (AP) - February 5, 2008 Romney had been expected to win the state, where more than 60
percent of residents are also members of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints. He also won the GOP primary in Massachusetts,
where he served as governor.
Obama, an Illinois senator, held a commanding lead with the
state's Democratic primary voters. Utah Democrats split their
delegates by the popular vote.
The Associated Press made its call based on surveys of voters as
they left the polls.
Romney is a favorite adopted son in Utah. He was chief of the
Salt Lake Olympics in 2002 and owns a vacation home at Park City's
Deer Valley resort.
About 90 percent of Republicans at Utah polls said they were
Mormon and that Romney shared their values.
"Honestly, yes, I'm voting for him because he's LDS," said
Laroy Whitmore, a 40-year-old construction worker from the Salt
Lake City suburb of Sandy.
"But I was impressed with the Olympics. I thought it was dead,
but he came in and fixed it," Whitmore added. "Clearly, he has
the background and experience to lead our country."
Obama had an edge with male voters in Utah, while women appeared
evenly divided between him and Clinton, a New York senator.
Voters who described themselves as independents were more than
twice as likely to vote for Obama, the survey found.
