Being LDS and politically active I frequently field questions from colleagues about where Mormons stand on certain issues. More exact, I frequently hear remarks from these colleagues indicating “Mormons vote as a block” or “Mormons are all Republicans.” Rather than being defensive about my religious beliefs, I normally present the argument that the LDS Church endorses no single candidate or party, but the more obvious argument is to simply look at Senators Orrin Hatch and Harry Reid. These two men could not be further apart politically, yet they both espouse the same religious beliefs. An interesting article was posted by a guest (I wonder who?) at the “By Comment Consent” blog demonstrating the fact that these colleagues of mine are apparently out of touch and my argument stands. Thanks to the research done by the author of the article, in 111th Congress will be attended by 14 Mormons, clearly from both sides of the political spectrum:

• 5 Senators: Senator Bob Bennett (R-Utah), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada), and Senator Tom Udall (D-New Mexico)
• 9 Representatives: Congressman Rob Bishop (R-Utah), Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa), Jeff Flake (R-Arizona), Dean Heller (R-Nevada), Wally Herger (R-California), Congressman Jim Matheson (D-Utah), Buck McKeon (R-California), Congresman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho)

Although there are more “R’s” than “D’s” among these 14 members of Congress (10 R’s, 4 D’s), my point stands simply due to the fact that Mormons are found in both parties, and mighty extreme points-of-view from two of them (Hatch and Reid). Anyway, just throwing the information out there.