Why Do Evangelicals Vote Republican?

The political preferences of Evangelical Christians are an important topic to the secular press for the simple reason that there are a lot of Evangelicals. They make up approximately 25% of the voting public. So they are an extremely important voting bloc. Without their support the Republicans would not have won the last presidential election. As a result, we are hated by the Progressive Left, the Mainstream media, and the academic community. They suggest our motives are racism, white nationalism, misogyny, and a host of other sins. Letters to the New York Times routinely suggest we are knuckle-dragging Neanderthals holding back polite society and an impediment to social improvement.

What are we to make of this? First and foremost, it is true that in the last several elections we have voted overwhelmingly Republican. Looking at Ryan Burge’s numbers we see that in 2024 83% of white Evangelicals voted for Trump. But even if you include non-white Evangelicals the support was 75%. If you dig deeper you find that the more an Evangelical attends church—an indication of stronger commitment—the more Republican they become. If you attend an Evangelical church that is predominantly white, 90% of your fellow congregants voted for Donald Trump. But if you attend a black or Hispanic Evangelical church over half of the people you go to church with voted the same way.

There are Evangelical leaders who criticize the Republican-leaning tendencies of their brethren, arguing that we should stand above the fray in order to win others to our cause. This is ridiculous. We won’t win the left by capitulating to its anti-God and anti-Christian posture. Anyway, we aren’t called by God to try to cozy up to the world. We are called to proclaim the Gospel without compromise and stand on the truths of the Word of God. If that sometimes spills over into partisan politics so be it.

Why? The Republican party does not hold our values completely or consistently but it comes closer than the Democratic party. Remember, political parties fluctuate over time. A hundred years ago the Democratic party ran an outspoken Evangelical for President three times. But at this point in history Evangelicals are more comfortable with the Republican party’s platform. The issues are well known to everyone. We are pro-life, we favor traditional marriage, we are strong on law and order, we are strong advocates of religious freedom—a freedom that is constantly under siege from the Left. We favor educational freedom of choice, we oppose state-sponsored euthanasia. We favor the rights of the individual over DEI imposed quota systems. For the Progressive Left, politics is their religion and they vote accordingly. Evangelicals already have a religion—we follow Jesus Christ. We do not depend on politics to give meaning to our lives. Given these convictions there is little wonder Evangelicals favor the Republicans and view the Democrats with suspicion. 

Andrew Walker sums it up nicely: “The Republican Party—though imperfect, flawed, and full of shortcomings fully deserving of criticism—supports and maintains an openness towards the values of Christians that the modern Democrat party simply does not.”

Walker goes on to point out that the modern Democratic Party has become aligned with a secular progressive framework that is incompatible with a biblical moral vision.

Burge’s analysis also helps explain why certain self-styled “evangelical” thought leaders at mainstream outlets who scold evangelicals for voting Republican either lack discernment, wish to impugn a politically acceptable scapegoat, nurse grudges, or deliberately ignore reality.

I have argued previously that a few Evangelicals have been captured by right-wing politics but their numbers pale in comparison to mainline church leadership which has capitulated overwhelmingly to the Progressive Left. The leadership structure of entire denominations is little more than a wing of the Democratic party.

When I counsel pastors I caution them against preaching politics in any form. I do not favor political partisanship in our pulpits or our churches. But the fact that our people vote overwhelmingly for the Republican party is nothing to apologize for. It is no sign that we have been captured by politics. It’s merely a common-sense response to the choices we have been given.

More: The Myth of the Republican Church: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX92rIqizIg

Andrew Walker in World magazine: Here, and here

RyanBurge and his statistical analysis: https://www.graphsaboutreligion.com/p/2024-election-post-mortem-evangelicals?utm_source=publication-search