Trump Divides Arizona's Crucial Mormon Vote

[RandySF]

A group of Mormon men sat around a coffee table at a house in Mesa, Ariz., on one recent September evening, debating a scenario that would have felt implausible just a decade ago: Could thousands of Mormon voters, disillusioned and disgusted by former President Donald J. Trump, help deliver a key battleground state to Democrats in November?

It’s already happened once. President Biden won 18 percent of Arizona’s Mormon voters in 2020, according to exit polls, a small but significant defection from a reliably Republican voting bloc that helped Mr. Biden flip the state blue by just 10,457 votes. Seeking their support for the third time, Mr. Trump appears to be dividing the state’s Mormons more than ever, according to interviews with a more than a dozen Mormon voters and state political analysts — which could give Vice President Kamala Harris an edge.

“People in my moderate circle of friends are watching and saying, ‘I can no longer do this,’” said Mike Badgett, one of the men in Mesa who was speculating about a greater shift toward Democrats. “I think the wheels are coming off of this agreement.”

Mr. Badgett was referring to the uneasy alliance between Mr. Trump and deeply religious voters. For years, many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints supported Mr. Trump, often reluctantly. They were turned off by his vulgarity, his disdain for women and his attacks on immigrants, anathema to the church’s pro-immigrant, pro-refugee message.



https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/13/us/politics/trump-divides-arizonas-crucial-mormon-vote.html

[brewens]

1. I was recently scolded by a Mormon MAGAt. I'd say belonging to two cults founded by child raping conmen

is pretty fucking special. I let her live. If she does it again, I'll tear into her. WTF part of the grooming process causes that kind of brain damage?

[Demovictory9]

2. there are signs that some Mormon women are having second thoughts.

.”

Even on abortion, long a bedrock issue for churchgoers, there are signs that some Mormon women are having second thoughts. The church officially opposes abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother, but some Mormon women said the new abortion restrictions that some states passed after the overturning of Roe v. Wade ran contrary to their religious principles that emphasize autonomy and agency. (Earlier this year, Arizona’s Supreme Court reinstated a near-total ban on abortion, before the State Legislature repealed it, reverting to a 15-week restriction.)

Allison Jones, a photographer who lives in Gilbert, east of Phoenix, said she thought a wave of Mormon women would cast their votes for Ms. Harris this November — silently — while their husbands would continue to support Mr. Trump.

[Medical_Mom]

3. This division didn't start with IQ45

I grew up in Mesa, (the daughter of a return Mormon missionary that my mom met in a bar lol), and still live in the next town over. Growing up, we had what I referred to "reasonable Republicans." While they were conservative, they were also open to conversation and respectful. They had more of a "live and let live" attitude.

In the early 2000s we started to see the rise of people like Russell Pearce, the author of the infamous SB1070 bill. Suddenly, those that had been hiding their hate and xenophobia had a voice and it divided families and various ward congregations. With the birth of the Tea Party and Obama's run, we saw more and more rightwingnuts who were very vocal about their views while those in the Church that were more moderate shrank into the shadows rather than voicing concerns and promoting their more moderate views for fear of being seen as opposing the Church. I personally know of many families that chose to go to other wards or even stopped going to church all together once this extreme rightwing ethos set in.

Within the Church it is expected that you will vote as church leadership tells you to. Many of these louder, more extreme Rs happened to also be in leadership and therefore pushed congregations to continue to vote for more and more extreme candidates.

Mesa Mayor John Giles is Mormon and has held various leadership posts in the Church. What he and others like those in this article are doing is giving "permission" to those more moderate church members who are fed up with TFG to vote for Harris. Breaking with the directive of the Church is a risk for these people. I've seen repercussions for other infractions "against" the Church ranging from being publicly called out during services to being denied access to things like loans from mtg brokers who are members.

I could write pages about the many issues and negative aspects of the Mormon Church. However, I think it's important to encourage those that are thinking about voting their conscience this time around to do so without drudging up the past nor expecting them to vote democrat forever. This time around is about so many existential threats that we should make room for them and welcome their votes without putting qualifying statements or expectations on it.