Utah donors favor Romney

When it comes to contributions from Utah, the run for the White House isn't much of a horse race.

That's because a single presidential candidate, Republican Mitt Romney, collected a whopping 91 percent — nearly $2.8 million — of the more than $3 million in contributions made to leading presidential candidates.

Talk about a one-horse race — a Deseret Morning News analysis of Federal Elections Commission data for the first quarter of this year showed Romney has a 24 percent lead over his nearest competitor in the run for Utah dollars, GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

"I'm pleasantly surprised that it's over 90 percent with such a wide-open field," said Kirk Jowers, director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics and a Romney supporter. "But I did have high expectations that Utah's favorite son would dominate the field."

So did Kelly Patterson, director of Brigham Young University's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy. "You would expect the lion's share of the political money in this state to go to a candidate who has the strongest ties," Patterson said.

Those ties, of course, include Romney's political affiliation and membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A majority of Utahns are both Republicans and Mormons. Plus, they know Romney as the leader of Salt Lake City's successful 2002 Winter Olympics.

Would Utahns have offered up as much if Romney wasn't running? Possibly, but doubtfully so early in the race. With the election 1 1/2 years away, only political junkies and voters in the earliest caucus and primary states, Iowa and New Hampshire, are paying much attention.

"One thing Romney has shown the nation is that properly motivated, Utahns will get engaged in making political contributions," Jowers said, describing Utahns as "more focused on this presidential election than almost any other state."

Still, given the relatively small size of the state's population, Utah's status as a significant source of campaign revenue may be short-lived. "This is Utah's high-water mark," Jowers said, noting Romney and other candidates likely won't be back here for cash soon.

So far, no Democratic presidential hopefuls have shown up for fund-raisers in Utah. Romney took in a good chunk of his cash from Utahns at fund-raisers held earlier this year in Salt Lake City and St. George.

Both McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani also stopped in the state to solicit cash at private events in recent weeks but fell far short of Romney's take. Both reported less than their Utah supporters announced had been raised.