Religious and party identity remain linked, with very religious Americans much more likely to identify with the Republican Party than the Democratic side, a Gallup poll said.
The pollsters looked at the 41 percent of Americans who consider religion an important part of their daily lives and attend religious services regularly; the 30 percent of “nonreligious” Americans who feel the opposite way and seldom or never attend services; and the 29 percent who are “moderately religious.”
They found nonreligious Americans have been the most closely aligned with the Democrat Party of all three groups, while moderately religious people also tilted Democrat.
About half of the very religious group identity with or lean toward the Republican Party, whereas only 29 percent of the nonreligious group prefer the GOP.
“With few exceptions, Americans’ religiousness remains a major predictor of their political orientation,” Gallup found.
All three studied groups were more Democratic in 2008 and 2009, reflecting the political winds of the time, “but the differences among those who are very, moderately, or nonreligious were as significant then as they are now,” Gallup said. “In short, the religious gap in party identification has persisted over nearly seven years.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.