How the Faithful Voted: Religion and the 2000 Presidential Election

The 2000 presidential race will be remembered not only as one of the closest in American history but also for the unusual prominence of religion. From George W. Bush's proclamation of Jesus Christ as his favorite political philosopher to Joseph Lieberman's quotes from Hebrew Scriptures, religious rhetoric played an important role in appealing to America's diverse faiths.

But how did the faithful vote? A just completed national survey offers some answers to this question, revealing both old and new patterns. Longstanding political differences among the religious groups undergirded the Bush and Gore vote, but in addition there was an increased polarization among the faithful. Both factors contributed to the closeness of the contest.

The Bush vote was substantially an alliance of more observant white Christians (Protestant and Catholic), led by evangelical Protestants; they were joined by less observant white Protestants. Together these groups made up about three-quarters of the Texas governor's total. In contrast, the Gore vote essentially came from members of minority faith groups, especially black Protestants, plus secular voters and less observant white Christians. In total, these groups accounted for about three out of four of the vice president's votes.

The survey was conducted at the University of Akron as part of a larger project of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and was supported by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts. A random sample of adult Americans were interviewed in the spring of 2000 and then re-contacted right after the election. The data were weighted to match the demographic characteristics of the U.S. adult population, and a statistical model was employed to correct for over-reported turnout. These modifications produced more accurate estimates of the vote, but the results were quite comparable to those found in the raw data. The resulting weighted sample size was 2,363, with 1,147 major-party voters; the margin of error was plus or minus 4%. This survey is the third in a series of election studies, and comparisons were made with the 1996 results.

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