How Christians vote in the 2020 election will be a key factor in who occupies the White House for the next four years.
They remain a majority (64%) of all registered voters, according to a Pew Research Center analysis published Oct. 26, despite a 15-point decline in self-identified Christians among registered voters since 2008.
Of the 64% of registered voters in the U.S. who self-identify as Christian, the largest number (18%) are white evangelical Protestants, followed by white non-evangelical Protestants (13%), white Catholics (12%), Black Protestants (7%) and all other Protestants (6%).
Most of these groups have seen a decline over the past 11 years, dropping three points, six points, five points and two points, respectively. All other Protestants increased one point.
Over the same period, the number of religiously unaffiliated among U.S. registered voters has grown by 13% – increasing from 15% in 2008 to 18% in 2012 to 28% in 2019.
Among Republican-affiliated voters, white evangelical Protestants comprise 32% of GOP support, followed by white non-evangelical Protestants (16%), white Catholics (15%), religiously unaffiliated (15%), all other Protestants (8%) and other faith traditions (5%). The remaining 15% of Republican voters are a combination of Hispanic Catholics, other Catholics and other Christian traditions.
Among Democrat-affiliated voters, the religiously unaffiliated make up 38% of the party’s voters, followed by Black Protestants (12%), white non-evangelical Protestants (11%), white Catholics (9%), other faith traditions (9%), Hispanic Catholics (6%), white evangelical Protestants (6%) and all other Protestants (5%). The remaining 4% of Democrat voters are a combination of other Catholics and other Christian traditions.
The full report is available here.
Managing editor for news and opinion at Good Faith Media.
