AP VoteCast shows Trump boosted his level of support among Catholic voters

Among several blocs of religious voters, including his loyal evangelical base, Donald Trump fared roughly as well in his victory over Kamala Harris as he did in his loss to Joe Biden four years ago. One notable difference: He did better this year among Catholic voters, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters.

In 2020, the Catholic electorate — one the biggest religious blocs in the nation — was almost evenly split, with 50% backing Trump and 49% favoring Biden, a longtime member of the faith.

This year, according to VoteCast, 54% of Catholic voters supported Trump and 44% backed Harris — a shift that was particularly notable in North Carolina, Florida and Texas.

VoteCast documented a racial divide. About 6 in 10 white Catholics supported Trump, and about 4 in 10 supported Harris. By contrast, about 6 in 10 Latino Catholics supported Harris, and about 4 in 10 supported Trump.

Among other groups, VoteCast found that Trump generally fared about the same against Harris as he did against Biden, notably winning the support of about 8 in 10 white evangelical Christians.

Some of the other VoteCast findings:

--About 8 in 10 Black Protestants supported Harris; 15% supported Trump.

--About 69% of Jewish voters supported Harris; about 30% supported Trump.

--About two-thirds of Muslim voters supported Harris; about one-third supported Trump.

--About 6 in 10 Mormons supported Trump; about one-third supported Harris.

--About 7 in 10 nonreligious voters supported Harris; about 3 in 10 supported Trump.

During the 2024 campaign, as in other recent national elections, Catholic voters were sharply divided over various volatile social issues. Some conservative Catholics said the Democratic Party’s staunch support for abortion rights was reason enough to oppose Harris; some more liberal Catholics said Trump’s demonization of migrants and disinterest in social-justice issues made him unworthy of support.

“Work for justice will certainly be necessary," wrote the Rev. Sam Sawyer, editor-in-chief of the Jesuit news magazine America, in an assessment of the election results.

“Mr. Trump campaigned on the promise of mass deportations, which would tear families apart and destabilize communities across the country,” Sawyer wrote. “Our immigrant brothers and sisters will need voices raised up in their defense, and the Catholic Church especially must be a champion of solidarity with them.”

Kristan Hawkins, a Catholic convert who is president of Students for Life of America, said she — like many abortion opponents — was disappointed in Trump's avowed preference for state-by-state abortion laws rather than a national ban. Yet she staunchly supported him.

“As a Catholic, I understand I am not voting for a priest or a pope or a pastor — I'm voting for a political candidate,” she told The Associated Press. “My choice, either way, is voting for a sinner ... You vote for the person who will limit the amount of evil in the world.”

As for Harris, am outspoken supporter of abortion rights, Hawkins said, “It's been very clear she's not going to be a friend to American Catholics.”

Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, who has worked closely with migrant and refugee communities in South Florida and beyond, sounded a note of “cautious optimism” about a second Trump term, believing that the reality of migrants’ contributions to the U.S. economy will matter more than the “hyperbole” about mass deportations.

“If he wants to accomplish ‘the greatest economy ever,’ he’s going to have to work on some type of accommodation on the immigration issues,” Wenski told the AP.

On abortion and other issues, Wenski said the Biden administration had sometimes given people of faith “heartburn because of policy decisions that seem to intrude on religious liberty.” He applauded Trump's appointment of conservative Supreme Court justices during his first term.

Wenski expressed relief that Florida’s “radically pro-abortion" ballot measure fell short of the 60% support needed for prevailing. But he conveyed his awareness of “a long road ahead of us in promoting a culture of life.”

Trump’s share of Jewish votes — about 30%, according to VoteCast — resembled the 2020 outcome, when 68% of Jewish voters backed Biden and 31% backed Trump.

The CEO of one of the nation’s largest Jewish organizations, Ted Deutch of the American Jewish Committee, said the AJC looked forward to working with Trump and his administration on policies that would bolster Israel’s security and combat antisemitism.

Deutch also urged the incoming administration to “increase unity among the American people and repair partisan divides.”

The CEO of a left-of-center advocacy group, Amy Spitalnick of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, issued a statement saying Trump’s victory is "terrifying for so many communities who have been consistently threatened and demonized by his campaign.”

“Trump’s embrace of anti-democratic, antisemitic, xenophobic, and racist conspiracy theories seeks to pit communities against one another and sow distrust in our democratic institutions, while making all of us less safe,” Spitalnick said.

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AP reporter Giovanna Dell'Orto contributed to this report.