15 months after former Attorney General John Swallow resigned from office, an overwhelming majority of Utahns think that office should still be elected rather than appointed by the Governor.
Our UtahPolicy.com survey finds more than four out of five Utahns think the Attorney General should be elected by voters. 15% say the office should be appointed by the governor. The strong support for a popular election is surprising given the alleged shenanigans that drove Swallow from office in December 2013.
Support for electing the office cuts across all partisan lines. 80% of Republicans, 79% of Democrats and 82% of independent voters say they favor elections.
Swallow resigned from office on December 3, 2013 following numerous allegations of influence peddling, campaign finance violations and bribery.
Following the Swallow scandal, some suggested that the state remove politics and political donations from the equation by making the position appointed by the governor instead of elected. That would require a constitutional amendment.
From the looks of our polling, that change wouldn't have much of a chance if it were put to voters.
43 states in America have Attorneys General who are popularly elected. In five states, they are appointed.
Our survey was conducted February 2-9, 2015 by Dan Jones and Associates. 606 registered Utah voters were contacted by telephone and online. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.98%.
