Trump won just 14% of the vote in the 2016 Utah Republican caucus. It was one of only two caucuses or primaries where Trump finished lower than second, and the only one where he took less than 20% of the vote.
Trump also did worse among Utah Republicans in the general election — winning just 64% of them — than he did among Republicans in any other state. His poor performance was due in part to the strength of conservative Evan McMullin, who launched a third party bid to provide conservatives who didn’t like Trump with an alternative.
Romney did much better in his Senate bid in Utah than Trump did in his presidential bid in the state. Even after his anti-Trump rhetoric during the 2016 campaign, Romney won 71% of the vote in a primary against Republican Mike Kennedy in 2018. That’s 57 points higher than Trump did in the 2016 caucuses. (I should note Trump endorsed Romney’s 2018 Senate bid.)
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