Provo, Utah, has the distinction of being the most Republican city in the United States based on election results. In the 2008 presidential election, 78% of Provo voters chose Republican John McCain while only 19% went with Democrat Barack Obama. AllGov correspondents Aaron Wallechinsky and Elijah Wallechinsky visited Provo and asked active Republicans why they support the GOP. Here are some of their responses.

 

 

 

 

 

Gary Anderson, Utah County Commissioner

“I’m an old-fashioned Republican; I think government that is the smallest is the best. As Jefferson said, ‘That government that governs least, governs best.’ I think the national government should protect our shores, deliver our mail and leave us the heck alone…and I’m not sure about delivering the mail. There are some threshold issues that the Republican Party has that the Democrats do not. Abortion is the main one for me. When I was growing up, my grandfather was a Democrat and he about disowned me when I became a Republican. He and I had some lively discussions.”

 

 

 

Adrielle Herring, Second Language Professional

“I’m a Republican because I believe every person needs to take responsibility for their own life and their own choices and the consequences of those choices. I believe in limited government.”

 

 

 

 

Leo Lines, Land Developer

 “I’m a Republican because in 1968 the Democrats had a convention in Chicago. I watched them fist-fighting and fighting on the floor and I said, ‘I don’t want to have any part of that; I’m a Republican.’ I support Mitt Romney. He’s a businessman, has good moral values. He really knows how to turn the country around. He’s the opposite of Obama. Obama knows how to run it into the ground like Jimmy Carter did years ago.”

 

 

 

Taylor Oldroyd, CEO of Utah County Association of Realtors

“I’m a Republican for two main reasons. One: risk. To create wealth, government has to allow people to take risk. It seems to me like Democrats want to remove risk out of the equation of business. Business has to be allowed to take risk, put it on the line and create jobs. Republicans recognize that. The second reason is land. Wealth comes from the land. What you’re wearing or what we’re eating today all came from the land. We can’t have government locking up the land, taking away the rights to create wealth using the land.”

 

Provo Holding Strong as Most Conservative City (by Ace Stryker, Provo Daily Herald)