Two out of three Utah voters believe state lawmakers listen to business, religious or special interest groups more than they do voters, according to the Utah Foundation.
The nonprofit surveyed hundreds of Utahns for its Utah Priorities Project and found that voters in March ranked the unresponsiveness of politicians as the top issue. But in July, well into the coronavirus pandemic, it had dropped to No. 6 behind health care, taxes, education, the economy and the pandemic. Some 1,150 registered voters were questioned in the March survey and 780 in July.
Republicans were split on the issue while Democrats and unaffiliated voters were more likely to agree that lawmakers don’t listen to constituents. Younger voters and those who do not identify as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were also more likely to agree.
Y2 Analytics partnered with the Utah Foundation to conduct the survey, which had a margin error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, according to Shawn Teigen, the foundation’s research director.