Catholics broke for Obama, evangelicals for Romney

The morning-after snapshot of religion and the election is that, as usual, Catholics were the bellwether. They voted for Barack Obama over Mitt Romney by 50-48, and Obama captured the popular vote by...50-48.

The morning-after snapshot of religion and the election is that, as usual, Catholics were the bellwether. They voted for Barack Obama over Mitt Romney by 50-48, and Obama captured the popular vote by…50-48.

Obama lost non-Catholic Christians (i.e. Protestants) by a hefty 15-point margin, 42-57. but this was more than compensated for by the rest of the pack: Nones (70-26), Jews (69-30), Others (74-23). 

Evangelicals in the end don't seem to have sat on their hands, and they voted for the Mormon candidate at Bushian levels, 78-21. Indeed, evangelicals voted for Romney at exactly the same rate as his own co–religionists. Imagine that.


As for the God Gap, despite earlier signs to the contrary, it again outstripped the Gender Gap. Those who said they attend worship weekly preferred Mitt Romney by 20 points, 59-39. Those who said they attend less frequently went for Obama by 25 points. That compares to a male preference for Romney of seven points and a female preference for Obama of 11.

All told, it looks like the basic religious divides in the U.S. electorate remain where they were established in the 1990s. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

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