Democratic candidates put Christian faith at campaign center

A number of Democratic candidates for Congress are putting Christian faith at the center of their campaigns during this midterm election cycle. The approach stands out because Democratic congressional candidates have rarely made religion a defining part of their campaign message.

What is changing

NPR has highlighted the pattern across multiple congressional campaigns rather than in one directly connected race. The candidates share an emphasis on Christian faith, but that emphasis does not amount to a common policy platform.

Faith can tell voters how candidates describe their values and motivations. It is not, by itself, a position on legislation or a commitment to vote a particular way in Congress. No policy positions can be attributed to the candidates from this shared campaign approach alone.

The development also does not mean that every Democratic candidate is adopting the same message. It concerns a number of candidates who have chosen to make religion unusually prominent in their own campaigns.

How an electoral effect would be assessed

Whether the strategy pays off will depend on how voters respond in the individual congressional contests where it is used. The relevant measures will include whether the candidates continue emphasizing faith, how the message appears in campaign events and communications, and their final election results.

Those results will reflect each entire campaign, including factors beyond religion. A candidate’s performance therefore cannot establish on its own how many votes were gained or lost because Christian faith was made central to the campaign.