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Clergy candidates' message of 'love your neighbor' powers Democrats’ midterm election gains
Compiled Nov 6
What happened
Clergy members and other Democratic candidates with a Christian message helped Democrats flip control of Congress in the midterms
The detail
James Talarico flipped a U.S. Senate seat in Texas, defeating Republican Ken Paxton, the first statewide Democratic win there in over 30 years
The detail
Adam Hamilton, Sarah Trone Garriott and Lindsay James flipped seats in Kansas and Iowa
The detail
White evangelical Protestants stayed consistent in their overwhelming midterm support for Republicans
How it unfolded
2016: Trump's election sparked Lindsay James' involvement in ministry and politics · March: Trone Garriott and James spoke to the AP about coalition-building · 2024: White evangelical Protestants made up 21% of the electorate when Trump ran for president · Midterm election: Talarico, Hamilton, Trone Garriott, James and Womack won their races, flipping seats for Democrats · After the election: Candidates gave acceptance speeches invoking themes of loving neighbors and flipping tables of injustice
By the numbers
7 in 10 liberal/moderate Protestants · 7 in 10 religiously unaffiliated voters · 21% white evangelical share of electorate in 2024 · 17% white evangelical share of electorate in 2026 · roughly 100,000 midterm voters surveyed
Still unresolved
Rev. Robert Jeffress 'suspects' many evangelicals stayed home, but this is not confirmed in the article