This new development is fostering old and new deliberations on Democrats, especially in Utah. For decades, political scientists and pundits predicted Utah would soon shift politically from the far right toward a centrist purple. Presidential election results and declining church membership indicate, according to him, that there’s a shift in Utah. Cowley: The assertion that Utah is the next Arizona and actively turning purple is wishful thinking by the far left. Pignanelli: Utah Democrats were in similar positions in the past, and the formula remains the same.