Christian candidates flip key congressional seats

Democratic candidates who identified as Christian clergy won control of Congress in the November midterms. The group included mainline Protestant pastors and seminarians who defeated Republican opponents in Texas, Kansas, and Iowa. Their victories marked a shift in the religious dynamics of American politics.

James Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian and former Texas state legislator, defeated Republican Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate seat. Talarico is 37 and served as a middle school teacher before entering politics. He won in a state that had not seen a Democrat win a statewide race in more than 30 years. Talarico also defeated Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, a Republican who chaired President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission.

Adam Hamilton, a United Methodist pastor from Kansas, won his Senate race. He leads the nation’s largest United Methodist congregation. Hamilton campaigned on a message of decency and the Golden Rule. He defeated Republican Senator Roger Marshall. In Iowa, Sarah Trone Garriott and Lindsay James flipped U.S. House seats. Both are ordained ministers in mainline Protestant denominations.

The candidates shared a common message focused on loving neighbors and separating church from state. Brian Kaylor, a Baptist pastor and editor, noted that evangelicals no longer held a monopoly on Christian politics. Kaylor said the election repudiated the attempt to corner the market on Christianity. The mainline candidates backed church-state separation and sought common ground across religions.

Hamilton said that many Americans felt the actions in Washington did not reflect national values. He said that feeling drove him and other candidates to run. Hamilton emphasized that his faith is central to his life, but he does not require voters to be religious to share his values. He said being religious is not required to follow biblical injunctions to do justice and love kindness.

Vice President JD Vance questioned Hamilton’s religiosity during the campaign. Hamilton called the criticism ridiculous. He said he welcomes conversations about faith and theology with critics. Vance campaigned for Hamilton’s opponent, Sen. Roger Marshall.

Talarico’s victory speech focused on his grandfather, a Baptist preacher. Talarico described Jesus as a barefoot rabbi who commanded people to love God and neighbor. He said Jesus did not stay in his room when people in power hurt their neighbors. Talarico told Texas voters it was time to start flipping tables of injustice.

Rev. Robert Jeffress, a Southern Baptist pastor in Dallas, criticized the pluralistic religion promoted by Talarico. Jeffress said people want a religion that is nice and warm, regardless of truth. He said Talarico’s beliefs are not true according to the words of Jesus. Jeffress attributed the Democratic success to inflation, the Iran war, and less than ideal candidates.

The AP Voter Poll surveyed roughly 100,000 midterm voters. About 7 in 10 Protestants who identify as liberal or moderate voted for Democrats. White evangelical Protestants made up 17% of the electorate in 2026, down from 21% in 2024. At least 7 in 10 religiously unaffiliated voters supported Democratic candidates in the key states.

Ryan Burge, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said the clergy candidates benefited from favorable political winds. He noted that economic issues and disdain for Trump were primary drivers. Burge said Hamilton would have lost by double digits if he had run in 2024. He argued that the Democratic Party should not focus solely on recruiting pastors for 2028.

Other Christian candidates also won in the midterms. Republicans included Mark Harris of North Carolina, a Southern Baptist pastor, and Tim Walberg of Michigan, a former pastor. Black Protestants voted overwhelmingly Democratic. Victorious Democrats included Rev. Frederick Haynes III, a Baptist from Texas, and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, a United Methodist minister from Missouri. LaKesha Womack, an ordained deacon in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, unseated a Republican incumbent in North Carolina.

Womack said her faith prompts her to advocate for policies addressing poverty, immigration, and healthcare access. She said Democrats should not recruit ministers unless the call is authentic. She noted that people of faith wanted to reclaim the narrative of Christianity from white Christian nationalists.