A recent Lifeway Research study revealed that US pastors are twice as likely to vote for former president Donald Trump over current Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election. The data comes from phone surveys of 1,003 US pastors from August 8 to September 3. The survey found that 50 percent of respondents planned to vote for Trump, while only 24 percent plan to support Harris. Another 23 percent are undecided on whom they will support. The results are similar to Lifeway’s results for the 2020 election when Trump faced off against Joe Biden.

The results are not surprising given than 50 percent of the respondents also identified as Republicans, while 18 percent identified as Democrat. Twenty-five percent identified themselves as independents. The number of pastors who state they would support Trump is smaller, however, than their congregants, with 61 percent stating they plan to vote for Trump according to a Pew Research Center poll. The survey did show differences between denominations, with Baptist, Pentecostal, and non-denominational pastors being the highest percent of those who would support Trump at 67 percent. Methodist and Presbyterian pastors were among those least likely to support Trump at 36 percent.

The top issues that pastors cared about in their political candidates, included their ability to maintain national security, protecting religious freedom, and their foreign policy positions. When asked to choose which factor was most important in selecting a candidate, 24 percent stated personal character and 18 percent stated the candidate’s position on abortion. Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research., stated the results show the gamut of issues that concern pastors. “Pastors are not single-issue voters. They care deeply about where presidential candidates stand on many issues. There are moral dimensions to all of the characteristics that could be selected, and pastors did not all pick the same characteristic as most important.”

Pastors, however, are also hesitant to share their political positions. “We ask pastors about many things going on in the culture today, and they are willing to provide their opinion. However, the growing number of pastors unwilling to respond with their voting intentions shows how sensitive or divisive politics has become in some churches,” stated McConnell. The study did find that female and African American pastors were more likely to state the would support Kamala Harris over Trump (51 percent and 71 percent respectively).