(RNS) — No matter what they believe, American voters agree on one thing: The economy is in trouble. They’re also worried about democracy’s future. Few are happy with the way the country is going.
As President Donald Trump sits at a desk in the White House Rose Garden to sign an executive order creating a “religious liberty commission,” conservative Christians gather around him to sing “Amazing Grace” on May 1, 2025 (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)
But America’s religious groups disagree on which party to vote for in the midterm congressional elections — with most faith groups preferring Democrats for the U.S. House of Representatives, save for white evangelicals and white Catholics.
Those are among the findings of a new survey from the Pew Research Center ahead of the 2026 midterm congressional elections.
“Overall, registered voters are more likely to support Democratic candidates than Republican ones,” Greg Smith, senior associate director of research at Pew, wrote after analyzing faith groups. “And registered voters who support Democratic candidates are more engaged in the election and more motivated to vote than those who back Republican candidates.”
Three-quarters of white evangelical Protestant voters (73%) and half of white Catholic voters told Pew they would vote for a Republican candidate in their congressional district if the election were held today. Mainline Protestants were effectively split, according to Pew’s report. Black Protestants (74%), Hispanic Catholics (59%), and those with no religious affiliation (61%) said they would vote for the Democratic candidate.
“White evangelicals are the only group of registered voters in which a majority prefer GOP House candidates” (Graphic courtesy of Pew Research Center)
In each of the faith groups, at least 1 in 6 voters said they were not sure or that they would vote for a third-party candidate.
The data is based on a survey of 5,062 U.S. adults conducted from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, asking about the midterms. A larger report, which did not include religion breaks, looked at the views of both Americans overall as well as registered voters.
“The 2026 midterm election is taking place amid deep public dissatisfaction with the state of the nation, near-record low approval ratings of President Donald Trump, and growing negativity about national economic conditions and the ongoing conflict with Iran,” researchers wrote in the report.
An analysis of the data by religion, provided to RNS by Pew, showed that most registered voters from the country’s largest faith traditions — Black Protestants (89%), Catholics (87%), white mainline Protestants (83%), and white evangelical Protestants (81%) — all say the economy is very important in shaping their voting decision for the 2026 midterms. Those who claim no religion, known as “nones,” agree (83%).
Pew did not provide data for other religious groups.
About three-quarters of voters surveyed from those faith groups say the future of democracy is a major concern as well. But they are split on other issues, such as immigration — with white evangelicals (65%), white Mainliners (63%), and Catholics (62%) deeming it more important than the nones (54%) or Black Protestants (49%).
Abortion plays a smaller role in shaping votes, with less than half of white Mainliners, Black Protestants, Catholics and the nones saying it is very important to their vote in this election. By contrast, 58% of white evangelicals say abortion is very important.
Faith groups also cited healthcare and education as important factors but rated them lower than the economy or the future of democracy.
Pew found that white evangelical Christians are the most likely to approve of the job that Donald Trump is doing (58%), but that number is down 20 percentage points from January of 2025 (78%). By contrast, 7% of Black Protestants, 17% of nones, 30% of Catholics, and 39% of Protestants overall approve of Trump’s job performance.
“Since the beginning of his second term, Trump’s approval rating has dropped significantly among all U.S. adults,” Smith wrote in analyzing the data from faith groups. “The downward trend is evident in every religious group.”
“In most religious groups, more people disapprove than approve of Trump’s job performance” (Graphic courtesy of Pew Research Center)
Some faith groups see their planned vote in the midterms as a vote against Donald Trump. That’s the case for about two-thirds of Black Protestants (66%) and nones (61%). Fewer Catholics (43%) or white mainline Protestants (35%) see their vote as being against Trump.
About a third of white evangelicals say their midterm vote shows support for Trump. They are also most likely to say Trump is not much of a factor in how they plan to vote in the midterms (48%).
Pew also found many religious Americans disapprove of both major political parties. Black Protestants (65%) were the only faith group to give Democrats a favorable rating, while white evangelicals were the only faith group to approve of Republicans (67%).
More than half of white mainliners (52%), Black Protestants (85%), Catholics (58%), and nones (77%) said they have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party. More than half of white mainliners (67%), nones (52%), and Catholics (51%) also view Democrats unfavorably, as do white evangelicals (87%).
No faith group said they were satisfied with how things are going in the country. Nones (86%) and Black Protestants (86%) were the most dissatisfied, followed by Catholics (75%), white mainliners (74%), and white evangelicals (66%).
Pew’s report did not include data for the views of faith groups on candidates in Senate races. RNS was able to obtain faith-based data for the Senate race in Texas from two recent polls.
A poll of 617 likely Texas voters, conducted by market research firm ReconMR and The Siena Research Institute and released Tuesday (Oct. 13), gives Democrat James Talarico a 48% to 44% advantage over Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton. Among faith groups, the non-partisan poll found that 59% of Protestants, 38% of Catholics and 22% of nones supported Paxton, while 53% of Catholics, 34% of Protestants and 70% of nones supported Talarico.
A UMass Lowell/YouGov poll of 850 likely voters in Texas showed a tied race, with both candidates at 45%. The poll showed a higher percentage of Protestants (55%) and Catholics (53%) supported Paxton, while 63% of “nothing in particular” voters and 71% of “all others” preferred Talarico. About half (53%) of those who attend service less than once a week preferred Talarico, while 60% of those who attend once a week or more preferred Paxton.
John Cluverius, an associate professor of political science at UMass Lowell, who directed the survey, said the Texas race is complicated. There are a large number of born-again or evangelical Christians in the state, which would favor Republicans, but Paxton, who has been embroiled in several scandals, is “not a typical candidate.”
Cluverius said it’s likely the Texas race will be decided at the margins and that Talarico’s open discussion of faith might draw some religious voters who are concerned about Paxton’s scandals.
Still, he said, it’s hard to distinguish between religion and politics in polling.
“I think it’s important to recognize that it’s the partisanship underneath all of this that’s driving everything,” he said.
