Conservative, Evangelical Voters Turn Out Strong for Midterms

According to the results of an
election-day survey by the Faith and Freedom Coalition (FFC), self-professed
evangelicals and social conservatives made up the largest single voting block in the midterm elections
held on Nov. 2.

The survey results, released
after the elections, showed that the two groups cast 29
percent of the votes, and a whopping 78 percent of them voted Republican. For
this year’s midterm elections, evangelicals garnered their highest turnout in
history, up 5 percent over the previous high in 2006.

“People of faith turned out in
the highest numbers in a midterm election we have ever seen, and they made an
invaluable contribution to the historic results,” said FFC Chairman Ralph Reed,
“including the election of a Republican majority in the House and significant
gains in U.S. Senate seats, governorships, and hundreds of state legislative
seats and local offices.”

Also contributing to the turnout
were self-identified members of the Tea Party, 52 percent of whom said they are
evangelicals, and Roman Catholics, who as a block voted 58 percent
Republican.

“This survey, along with numerous exit polls, makes clear that those who
ignore or disregard social conservative voters and their issues do so at their
own peril,” Reed said.

The FFC telephone survey was
conducted by Public Opinion Strategies on Nov. 2 with 1,000 voters and had a
±3.1 percent margin of error.