Latter-day Saints are a heavily conservative group. About three-quarters (73%) identify as Republicans or Republican-leaning independents, while 23% identify as Democrats or Democratic leaners, according to Pew Research Center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study.15 (The RLS was conducted mostly in 2023 and the early part of 2024, before the 2024 presidential election.)
Note: The only statistically significant differences in this graphic are the breaks by region and comparing lifelong Latter-day Saints with converts. The Mountain region includes Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
“Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S.”
| % | Lower bound | Upper bound | Group | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Latter-day Saints | 73 | 67.3 | 78.4 | 1 |
| Ages 18-49 | 72 | 64 | 79.1 | 2 |
| 50+ | 74 | 66.2 | 81.1 | 2 |
| Men | 77 | 67.7 | 84.3 | 3 |
| Women | 70 | 62.2 | 76.5 | 3 |
| Bachelor’s degree or more | 75 | 68.7 | 80.9 | 4 |
| Less education | 72 | 63.5 | 79.3 | 4 |
| Mountain region | 84 | 78.2 | 89 | 5 |
| Other regions in the country | 61 | 51.8 | 69.4 | 5 |
| Lifelong Latter-day Saint | 77 | 70.6 | 82.5 | 6 |
| Latter-day Saint convert* | 62 | 49.4 | 73.5 | 6 |
Note: The only statistically significant differences in this graphic are the breaks by region and comparing lifelong Latter-day Saints with converts. The Mountain region includes Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
“Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S.”
Currently, all nine Latter-day Saints serving in the U.S. Congress are Republicans – and all represent states in the country’s Mountain region, where Latter-day Saints are heavily concentrated. Church members living in the eight Mountain region states stretching from Montana to New Mexico are more likely than Latter-say Saints living in all other regions to identify as Republican (84% vs. 61%).16
There are no significant differences by age, gender or education in the percentage of Latter-day Saints who identify with the GOP, though lifelong Latter-day Saints are notably more likely than converts to the church to identify as Republican (77% vs. 62%).
While members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (widely known as Mormons) largely affiliate with the Republican Party, Latter-day Saint Republicans stand out from Republicans nationally on various social and political issues.
This analysis is part of a larger project exploring Latter-day Saints’ demographic makeup, religious beliefs and practices, and political and social views, as well as how these characteristics have changed over time.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are often called Mormons by other people, and for years the church used that term to refer to its members or related institutions, such as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. However, the church stopped using “Mormon” in 2018 and discourages others from using the term to refer to the church or its followers. In this analysis, we primarily use the church’s full name and refer to members of the faith as “Latter-day Saints.” We include limited references to the term “Mormon” in parentheses for readers who are unfamiliar with the full name of the church or the term “Latter-day Saints.”17
How Latter-day Saint Republicans’ views compare with those of Republicans overall
“Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S.”
| Latter-day Saints (Mormons) | All | Diff (pct. pts.) | Statistically significant difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abortion should be legal in all/most cases | 21 | 42 | -21 | Yes |
| Homosexuality should be accepted by society | 37 | 50 | -13 | Yes |
| A growing population of immigrants is a change for the better | 31 | 18 | +13 | Yes |
| The U.S. being made of people from many different races/ethnicities strengthens American society | 75 | 60 | +15 | Yes |
| The U.S. being made of people from many different religions strengthens American society | 60 | 39 | +21 | Yes |
“Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S.”
On some issues, Latter-day Saint Republicans are noticeably more conservative than their national counterparts.18 For example:
- They’re half as likely as Republicans overall to say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.19
- About four-in-ten say homosexuality should be accepted in society, compared with half of all Republicans.
But Latter-day Saints overall appear to be growing less conservative on some of these issues. For example, 46% of all Latter-day Saints say in our 2023-24 RLS that homosexuality should be accepted by society, up from 24% in 2007.
And Latter-day Saint Republicans are more open than their national counterparts to racial and religious diversity. For instance, Latter-day Saint Republicans are more likely than Republicans overall to say that the U.S. population being made of people from many different races and ethnicities strengthens the country (75% vs. 60%). There is a similar response pattern on a question about religious diversity in the United States. (Latter-day Saints are themselves a minority in America, making up roughly 2% of the population.)
Latter-day Saint Republicans also are more likely than Republicans overall to say that a growing population of immigrants is a change for the better (31% vs. 18%). Still, nearly half of Latter-day Saint Republicans say that a growing immigrant population is a change for the worse (46%).
