Religious Groups and Political Party Identification

September 2012

Of all registered voters who identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, 61% are non-Hispanic whites, 21% are black, 10% are Hispanic, and 7% are of some other race or of mixed race. They are religiously diverse: 16% are black (non-Hispanic) Protestants, 14% are white (non-Hispanic) mainline Protestants, 9% are white (non-Hispanic) evangelical Protestants, 13% are white (non-Hispanic) Catholics, 5% are Hispanic Catholics, and a quarter (24%) are religiously unaffiliated. Eighteen percent belong to other groups, including 3% who are Jewish and 1% who are Mormon.

*The "other" category includes members of smaller religious groups (e.g., Mormons, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and others) as well as Protestants and Catholics who describe their race as something other than white, black or Hispanic (e.g., Asian, mixed race).