Christianity won in the midterm elections — but not Christian nationalism

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According to reporting by The Forward, The midterms saw the election of many new Jewish congressional representatives — Brad Lander in New York, Daniel Biss in Illinois, Scott Wiener in California, Zach Dembo in Kentucky. But another group was surprisingly well-represented in the Democratic wins:.

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A selection of the Christian Democrats who won their midterm elections — James Talarico, Lindsay James, Adam Hamilton and Sarah Trone Garriott. Courtesy of Getty Images / Mira Fox

The midterms saw the election of many new Jewish congressional representatives — Brad Lander in New York, Daniel Biss in Illinois, Scott Wiener in California, Zach Dembo in Kentucky. But another group was surprisingly well-represented in the Democratic wins: Christian pastors.

For decades, Christian clergy have usually been associated with the Republican party, thanks to evangelical groups like James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority and Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition. They have rallied Evangelical support for politicians around culture war issues like opposing abortion rights and gay marriage, and white Evangelicals have been one of the defining voting blocs for Republicans ever since.

In 2024, fundamentalist evangelicals voted overwhelmingly for Trump , and they have been influential members of his cabinet and advisory team. Paula White-Cain, a charismatic Christian, is Trump’s personal faith adviser. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is a member of an ultra-conservative denomination called the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches founded and led by Doug Wilson, a pastor who has said women should not have the right to vote and that slavery was good; Hegseth has instituted prayer services at the Pentagon, something once considered a violation of the separation of church and state, and he and his preferred preachers often promote Christian nationalism in the services.

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Information in this article was compiled directly from records provided by The Forward. Access the primary source document at: https://forward.com/culture/861320/christianity-midterms-christian-nationalism-democrat-talarico-james-garriott/. Reporting and editorial review conducted by the USA NOW News Desk.