Poll: 18% oppose Mormon candidate

Mitt Romney speaks in Chantilly, Va. | AP Photo

Gallup asked this question eight times, typically when a Mormon was running for president | AP Photo

The percentage of Americans who would not vote for a Mormon presidential candidate because of his religion is the same today as it was in 1967 when George Romney ran for the White House, according to a new Gallup Poll on Thursday.

Today, 18 percent of respondents said they would not vote for a Mormon hopeful, compared with 17 percent who responded similarly in 1967. George Romney ran for president in the 1968 election cycle.

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“Now, some 45 years later, George Romney’s son Mitt will be the Republican nominee — and the pattern of resistance to his Mormon religion has essentially not changed,” notes the polling firm.

However, the current figure of 18 percent is down from 22 percent a year ago.

Gallup has asked this question eight times since 1967, typically when a Mormon was running for president, for example during Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R-Utah) 2000 presidential campaign. The percentage of respondents who indicated they would not vote for a Mormon has averaged 19 percent.

In the most recent survey, Democrats and those who are least educated are the most likely to discount a presidential candidate based on Mormonism.

The percentage of those who would oppose a Mormon candidate rises from 6 percent among those who have a postgraduate education to 23 percent among those who have a high school diploma or less.

Meanwhile, 24 percent of Democrats would oppose a candidate based on Mormonism, compared with only 10 percent of Republicans.

The Gallup Poll was conducted June 7-10 with a sample of 1,004 adults and a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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