Four Clergy Candidates Help Democrats Seize Congressional Control
Mainline Protestant leaders in Texas, Kansas, and Iowa won key seats as white evangelical turnout dropped.
By Priya Marino ·
Four Democratic candidates who serve as clergy members helped their party flip control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. These winners represent a distinct shift in the religious composition of the new majority. They include a seminarian, a megachurch pastor, and two ministers from mainline Protestant denominations.
The Associated Press Voter Poll of roughly 100,000 midterm voters shows the demographic divide. About seven in ten Protestants who identify as liberal or moderate voted for Democrats. In contrast, white evangelical Protestants largely stuck with the Republican ticket. The share of white evangelicals in the electorate fell to 17 percent in 2026, down from 21 percent in 2024.
Religiously unaffiliated voters provided a major boost for the clerical candidates. At least seven in ten of these voters supported the Democratic Senate and House candidates in Texas, Kansas, and Iowa. This support helped offset the steady Republican base among white evangelicals.
James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton to win a U.S. Senate seat in Texas. Talarico, a 37-year-old Presbyterian seminarian and former state legislator, is the first Democrat to win a statewide race in the state in over 30 years. In his acceptance speech, he described Jesus as a barefoot rabbi who flipped the tables of injustice. He told Texans it was time to start flipping tables.
Adam Hamilton, the pastor of the largest United Methodist congregation in the nation, won a Senate seat in Kansas. He defeated Republican Sen. Roger Marshall. Hamilton cited the Golden Rule in his victory speech, urging decency in politics. He noted that faith is central to his daily life but emphasized that kindness does not require formal religious affiliation.
Sarah Trone Garriott and Lindsay James flipped U.S. House seats in Iowa. Garriott is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. James serves as a chaplain in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Both women credited coalition building for their success. Garriott stated that people will do powerful things when they come together on common ground.
Critics on the right challenged the theological validity of these candidates. Rev. Robert Jeffress, a Southern Baptist pastor in Dallas, argued that Talarico's pluralistic views do not align with the words of Jesus. Jeffress attributed the Democratic wins to inflation, the Iran war, and weak Republican candidates. He also suggested that many evangelicals stayed home to vote.
Black Protestant leaders also secured victories. Rep. Frederick Haynes III of Texas and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II of Missouri won re-election or new terms. LaKesha Womack, an ordained deacon in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, unseated a Republican incumbent in North Carolina. Womack said her faith drives her to advocate for healthcare access and poverty relief while defending religious freedom for all.
