This is Why the Mormon Vote Matters to Republicans

Mormon reporter-in-chief McKay Coppins has a new piece up at Buzzfeed (it’s actually a two days old now) about why the “Mormon vote” in Nevada has become so important to Republicans.

According to Coppins, Mormons haven’t typically been seen by candidates as an important demographic in the primaries. They vote reliably Republican, but beyond that Mormons haven’t typically played a major role in the primary horse race. But Coppins details how the Romney campaign proved that Mormons can be a useful force, especially in Nevada:

GOP strategists attribute this change to the Romney campaign’s unprecedented success in organizing and energizing the state’s LDS voters. While Nevada is only about 5% Mormon, members of the church made up a whopping 25% of the Republican caucuses in both 2008 and 2012.

So what is that special sauce? What is it that Mormons have that staffers and strategists yearn for? According to Coppins, it’s all about organization:

Unlike most religious sects, the church is structured like a top-down corporation, and every congregation in the world reports back to headquarters in Salt Lake City. Mormons are each assigned to a geographically determined “ward” of about 200–300 people, and each congregation distributes a directory of its members’ addresses and contact information, to be used for coordinating visits to needy families, or organizing church picnics. Members are expressly prohibited from using the lists for political or business purposes, and while there were isolated rumors of abuse in 2012 by overzealous partisans, Romney himself was adamant that his team not violate the church’s rule.

This organizational structure, according to Coppins, makes it easier for political operatives to establish a pipeline of potential supporters. As Coppins pointed out in the above passage, politicians are not to use ward and stake lists for their own ends, but the fact that Mormons are so connected makes getting referrals a heck of a lot easier.

So the big question is, who’s gonna get the Mormons on their side? Will it be Ben? Donald? HILLARY?!?!?!? Stay tuned to find out the answer, which will likely be just as absurd as the question.