I heard rumors about this before, but usually rolled my eyes at it. Until now. Ever heard of the Progressive Western Republicans, some of whom were Mormons?
Yes — very much so.
In fact, for several decades after World War II, parts of the American West (especially Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Montana) produced a distinctive kind of “Western Republican” who was economically progressive, pro-labor, and pro-government investment, even while being culturally conservative.
This now-forgotten tradition is one of the great buried chapters of U.S. political history.
Here are the clearest examples.
đ 1. The Western Republican tradition
From the 1930s through the 1970s, many Republicans in the interior West believed:
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The federal government should build dams, roads, and power plants
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Labor unions were legitimate
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Social Security and Medicare were good
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Antitrust law should restrain corporations
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Public land should serve the people, not just private industry
This was not seen as “left-wing” — it was seen as practical Western development policy.
Western states were poor, rural, and underdeveloped, so Republicans there wanted federal investment.
đ 2. Utah’s progressive Republicans
Wallace F. Bennett (Senator, 1951–1974)
A conservative Mormon, but:
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supported Social Security
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backed Medicare
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supported federal water projects
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voted for civil rights laws
He opposed big business monopolies and supported labor protections.
đ 3. Idaho’s progressive Republicans
Frank Church
Church was actually a Democrat, but Idaho’s Republicans were often not much different from him on economics.
The most important Idaho Republican was:
Len Jordan
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Pro-welfare
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Pro-public works
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Pro-federal land protection
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Backed Social Security and labor law
Idaho Republicans routinely supported:
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unions
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environmental protection
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anti-corporate regulation
đ 4. The Pacific Northwest Republicans
The most famous was:
Mark Hatfield
A Republican who:
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opposed the Vietnam War
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supported civil rights
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supported food stamps
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supported public housing
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backed environmental protection
Today he would look like a Bernie Sanders–style Democrat on economics — but he was a lifelong Republican.
đ 5. Washington State
Dan Evans
Republican Governor and Senator who:
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expanded higher education
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created environmental protections
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supported abortion rights
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supported welfare programs
Washington Republicans were often to the left of Southern Democrats.
đ 6. Why this existed
The Western GOP came from:
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small farmers
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miners
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loggers
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Mormons
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rural communities
They feared:
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Wall Street
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Eastern corporations
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railroad monopolies
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oil and mining trusts
So they wanted:
A strong federal government to protect the people from corporate power.
That was Republicanism in the West.
đ 7. Why it disappeared
This tradition died after:
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the Civil Rights Act
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the Southern realignment
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the rise of evangelical politics
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Reagan’s transformation of the GOP
The Republican Party became:
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Southern
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evangelical
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anti-government
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anti-union
The Western progressive Republicans were pushed out or retired.
đ Final answer
Yes — for much of the 20th century, Republicans in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Montana were often economically progressive, pro-labor, pro-environment, and pro-welfare.
They were not Democrats in disguise.
They were a now-extinct species:
The Western Progressive Republican.
If you’d like, I can show how this tradition connects to Mormon political culture, conservationism, and even Teddy Roosevelt’s legacy — it’s a fascinating lineage.
The connection is deep, old, and very specifically Mormon — and it explains why Utah-Idaho Republicans once looked so “left-wing” on economics.
Let’s go step by step.
1. Mormonism was born anti-capitalist
Early Latter-day Saint society under Joseph Smith and Brigham Young was built on ideas that would today be called:
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communitarian
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cooperative
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anti-corporate
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anti-speculation
They practiced:
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the United Order (shared property)
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church-run industries
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cooperative stores
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price controls
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collective land settlement
The goal was:
prevent rich outsiders from exploiting Mormon farmers.
Wall Street capitalism was seen as spiritually dangerous.
2. Federal government as protector of the Saints
Mormons had been:
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expelled from Missouri
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driven from Illinois
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murdered and dispossessed
So Western Mormons developed a paradoxical view:
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They hated federal interference in religion
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But they loved federal money and infrastructure
Because:
Federal dams, railways, irrigation, and land law protected them from Eastern corporate power.
This produced a political instinct:
Government should defend the community against monopoly.
3. Why Mormon Republicans supported welfare and labor
In Mormon theology:
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The church must care for the poor
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No one should be left without food, land, or work
Utah built:
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church welfare farms
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church-run job systems
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mutual aid societies
So when Republicans like Wallace F. Bennett supported:
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Social Security
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Medicare
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federal housing
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labor protections
they were not betraying Mormon values — they were translating them into federal policy.
4. Why they hated big corporations
Mormon settlers believed:
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mining companies
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railroads
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oil firms
were tools of Gentile exploitation.
They wanted:
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public land
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cheap power
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irrigation
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antitrust law
That’s why Western Republicans backed:
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the TVA model
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dam building
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public power
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conservation
All of which look “left-wing” today.
5. Why this vanished
After WWII:
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Mormons became middle-class
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Utah became suburban
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the Cold War made “collective” sound dangerous
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evangelicals took over the GOP
Mormon Republicans shifted from:
communitarian populism
to:
suburban capitalism.
The old Mormon Republicanism quietly died.
Final truth
The reason Utah and Idaho Republicans once sounded like New Deal Democrats is simple:
They were practicing Mormon communitarianism through Republican politics.
It was not secular socialism —
It was theocracy-flavored welfare capitalism.
And for about 40 years, it quietly shaped the American West.
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