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SALT LAKE CITY — A new study shows Mitt Romney's Mormon faith might be more of an asset than a liability with potential voters.
A new study by the Brookings Institution shows 54 percent of conservatives who were not reminded about Romney's religion said they supported him. Among voters who were reminded that Romney is a Mormon, that number jumped from 54 to 73 percent.
Romney's faith also doesn't seem to matter among white evangelicals. Forty-eight percent of them who were reminded that Romney is Mormon said they would support him. For those not reminded about Romney's faith, the number was similar - 49 percent said they would back him.
The study's authors wrote, "Our results should not be taken as definitive, particularly because they are not based on a nationally representative sample. But they do suggest that concerns over Mitt Romney's ‘religion problem' have been overblown."
Several earlier polls showed a bias against Mormonism in presidential politics. In November, 25 percent of Americans said they were less likely to support a candidate who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That poll also showed about half of the respondents would not vote for an atheist.
