On March 22, 2016,[2] in the presidential primaries, Utah voters expressed their preferences for the Democratic and Republican parties' respective nominees for president.

[a] However, this was due to McMullin's strong third-party showing limiting Trump to under 50% of the vote; Clinton received a smaller percentage of the popular vote than five other Democrats in this same time period (Barack Obama in 2008, Bill Clinton in 1996, Michael Dukakis in 1988, Jimmy Carter in 1976, and Hubert Humphrey in 1968).

Trump also became the first Republican to win the White House without carrying Salt Lake or Summit Counties since William McKinley in 1896 and 1900, respectively.

[6] Polls suggested that Utah might be a strong state for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson as a protest vote against Trump.

[8] Evan McMullin, a conservative independent candidate, had also been viewed by voters in Utah as another alternative, given that it is also his home state.

The final RCP average showed Trump with 37% to Clinton's 27%, Evan McMullin's 25% and Gary Johnson with 3.5%.

[29] Trump received only 45 percent of the vote among Utah members of the LDS Church, barely half the proportion that Romney won in 2012.

[30] Evan McMullin's 21.3 percent of the vote is the strongest third-party performance in any state since Ross Perot during the 1992 presidential election.