Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Utah
Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.
The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?
At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.
This page takes a specific look at how Utah performed in the study.
Background about the study
- See also: Ballotpedia: Who Runs the States
Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992 to 2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.
Part 1: Partisanship analysis
Utah Governor
During every year from 1992 to 2013 there were Republican governors in office for Utah. Utah is one of eight states run by a Republican governor for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. Utah was under Republican trifectas for all 22 years of the study period.
Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.
Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.
Utah Senate
During every year from 1992 to 2013, the Republican Party was the majority in the Utah State Senate. The Utah State Senate is one of 13 state senates that was Republican for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. Utah was under Republican trifectas for all 22 years.
Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.
Utah House of Representatives
During every year from 1992 to 2013, the Republican Party was the majority in the Utah House of Representatives. The Utah House of Representatives is one of nine state Houses that was Republican for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992 to 2013.
Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.
The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Utah, the Utah State Senate and the Utah House of Representatives from 1992-2013.
Partisan control changes
There were zero partisan control changes in Utah during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting Utah less than the average.
Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)
Utah’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 18.9, which puts it at 18 in the overall SQLI ranking.[1]
- The years that Utah had the highest ranking were 2008 and 2012, in which it ranked 6th.
- The year that Utah had the lowest ranking was 2002, in which it ranked 29th.
- The index type that Utah had the highest ranking in was S&P Credit Rating
- The index type that Utah had the lowest ranking in was Personal Income Per Capita, in which it ranked 46th.
Utah SQLI 1992-2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Index | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |||
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 6 | 6 | 4 | |||
America's Health Rankings | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 7 | |||
CAFR Debt/GDP | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 22 | 19 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 13 | N/A | |||
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 13 | 20 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 9 | |||
CNBC Top States for Business | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 2 | |||
Forbes Best States for Business | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
Govt. Employment Share Population | 40 | 40 | 39 | 37 | 36 | 39 | 38 | 38 | 34 | 36 | 35 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 28 | 28 | 25 | 25 | 30 | 31 | 33 | |||
Graduation Rate | 10 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 25 | 33 | 19 | |||
Personal Income Per Capita | 48 | 47 | 46 | 45 | 45 | 42 | 43 | 43 | 43 | 42 | 45 | 46 | 46 | 45 | 44 | 42 | 42 | 44 | 47 | 46 | 46 | |||
Poverty Rate | 3 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 26 | 16 | 9 | 16 | 6 | 11 | 14 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 10 | N/A | |||
Real GDP per capita | 43 | 42 | 42 | 40 | 36 | 33 | 32 | 32 | 33 | 32 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 38 | 34 | 32 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 30 | N/A | |||
S&P Credit Rating | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
State Govt. Spending/GDP | 29 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 25 | 29 | 25 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 22 | N/A | |||
State & local tax burden | 34 | 36 | 34 | 35 | 34 | 33 | 38 | 41 | 42 | 38 | 38 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 36 | 35 | 36 | 25 | 22 | N/A | N/A | |||
Tax Freedom Day | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 32 | |||
Unemployment Rate | 7 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 22 | 35 | 27 | 25 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 19 | 18 | 14 | 10 | |||
Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 8 | 9 | 13 | N/A | |||
Voter Turnout | 15 | 29 | 29 | 34 | 34 | 37 | 37 | 34 | 34 | 39 | 39 | 32 | 32 | 45 | 45 | 45 | 45 | 47 | 47 | 38 | 38 | |||
Well-Being Index | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 4 |
Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay
The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Utah state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. During every year of the study Utah had Republican trifectas. Its SQLI ranking stayed consistently in the 20s range for the first half of the study, but gradually moved up, bringing it into the top-10 for five of the last six years of the study.
See also
Additional information
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: The average rank is compiled by adding up all years of rankings and then dividing by 21 to obtain the average state ranking. This average figure is ranked relative to the rest of the 49 states to derive an overall SQLI ranking.
State of Utah Salt Lake City (capital) | |
---|---|
Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2024 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |