ST. GEORGE — Exactly half of Utahns polled recently by Dan Jones & Associates reported that they were “pleased” with President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet selections. However, when results were broken down by gender, a 17-point difference in opinions emerged.

The poll – commissioned by UtahPolicy.com and conducted by Dan Jones & Associates – asked registered Utah voters the following:

Are you generally pleased or displeased with Trump’s cabinet selections

Results were as follows:

• Pleased: 50 percent.
• Displeased: 36 percent.
• Don’t know: 14 percent.

When the results were viewed by gender, the poll showed a 17-point difference, a disparity which Utah Policy said is “rarely seen in Utah polling.” Women were split as to their opinions on Trump’s selections. Results were as follows:

Men

• Pleased: 59 percent.
• Displeased: 29 percent.

Women

• Pleased: 42 percent.
• Displeased: 42 percent.

The poll was conducted among 614 registered voters between Dec. 8-12, with a 3.95 plus or minus margin of error. The dates of the poll are worth noting, as former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney were still on the shortlist of possible secretary of state candidates at that time. Trump announced his selection of Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state on Dec. 13.

In a related story, another Dan Jones & Associates poll that extended past the poll about cabinet appointments – conducted between Dec. 8-22 – asked respondents about general optimism about the upcoming administration. Results showed 59 percent of Utahns as having some level of optimism, either “very” or “somewhat” optimistic, for the incoming presidency, while 40 percent reported pessimism.

This poll showed a slightly less dramatic difference between the genders, with 61 percent of men reporting optimism but only 51 percent of women reporting the same.

While Trump took up the call to “drain the swamp” in Washington during his campaign, critics of his cabinet picks have stated that he’s doing the opposite by selecting several billionaires to be in his inner circle. There has also been concern regarding appointees who seem to hold opposition to the very cabinet positions they will be holding, such as Oklahoma Attorney General and global warming skeptic Scott Pruitt as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

However, The Associated Press reported Wednesday that former House Speaker and Trump adviser Newt Gingrich said the President-elect wants to drop the “drain the swamp” rallying cry.

“I’m told he now just disclaims that. He now says it was cute, but he doesn’t want to use it anymore,” Gingrich said in an interview that aired Wednesday on NPR. Gingrich, a vice chairman of the transition team, also predicted there would be “constant fighting” over Trump’s efforts to reduce the influence of lobbyists and Washington insiders.

Trump’s aides say he remains committed to his underlying swamp-draining policies, such as banning outgoing Trump transition and administration members from lobbying for five years. Trump also prohibits any lobbyists from joining his transition team or administration unless they de-register.

Throughout the transition, Utah politicians have for the most part expressed support for Trump’s cabinet picks, and the Dan Jones poll shows unsurprising results when broken down by party affiliation, with 75 percent of Republicans saying they were pleased with Trump’s selections versus only 5 percent of Democrats saying the same.

JULIE BYCOWICZ AND JONATHAN LEMIRE of The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.