All five members of the Utah congressional delegation are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and they are collectively recognized as among the most religiously observant of the members of Congress and among those who vote most conservatively, according to a recent analysis "The Confessional Congress: Religion and Voting Behavior."

"(Mormons) look most like evangelical Protestants in terms of their voting behavior," said James Guth, a Furman University political scientist and one of the authors of the study that looked at the voting behavior of Congress in relation to religious beliefs. "If you look at church attendance, religious involvement and voting records, you could not distinguish between the two groups," Guth added.

The researchers looked at the voting records of members of Congress in 1997 to 1998, before Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Rob Bishop, R-Utah, joined the delegation. The researchers are now expanding their research to include more recent Congresses that will include the growing number of Mormon Democrats.

Guth said the sample size of Mormons — there are 16 in the current Congress, according to research by Roll Call — is too small to draw too many conclusions. And the three Democratic Mormon House members now in the sample will probably dilute the idea that Mormon members of Congress are all loyal adherents to the conservative GOP platform.

Generally, Mormons are somewhat overrepresented in Congress compared to the national population, but Guth said it is not that unusual to have some religious minorities overrepresented. Jews, for example, have long been over-represented in Congress based on their overall numbers in the population, and Episcopalians are overrepresented in the Senate.

Guth's research focused primarily on members of the House, which has a higher turnover rate that can reveal trends more readily than the Senate.

"The Senate is always a little different and it is not as religiously representative of the American public," Guth said. "The House tends to reflect changes in electoral behavior more than the Senate, and it is simply easier for a social movement or new social group to send representatives to the House."

Religious diversity

Generally, the study found that Congress has become more religiously diverse, which better reflects the nation's increased religious diversity. And evangelical Protestants have added to their numbers at the expense of mainline Protestants.

Another shift is the changing religious composition between the two parties. Catholics have traditionally voted Democratic, but now the split between Republican and Democrat Catholics is about even.

Another finding is that members of Congress who reflect traditional or fundamental religious beliefs all tend to vote more conservatively and are much more involved in their religion. And that tends to break down along party lines.