Twice as many pastors say they plan to support former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming election, although many are reluctant to share their preferences, according to a new survey.
Lifeway Research released a report recently that examines pastors’ views on the upcoming presidential election, finding that 50% of respondents plan to support Trump while 24% intend to vote for Harris. A significant share of pastors (23%) indicated they were undecided on who they planned to vote for in the election.
“We ask pastors about many things going on in the culture today and they are willing to provide their opinion,” Lifeway Research Executive Director Scott McConnell said in a statement. “However, the growing number of pastors unwilling to respond with their voting intentions shows how sensitive or divisive politics has become in some churches.”
In 2024, Pentecostals had the highest share of respondents who planned to support Trump (65%), followed by Baptists (64%), non-denominational Christians (64%), members of the Church of Christ (55%), Lutherans (48%), Methodists (26%) and Presbyterians (24%). A much higher share of self-described Evangelical pastors (61%) signaled their intention to support Trump than their mainline Protestant counterparts (30%).
In addition to asking pastors which candidate they prefer in the election, the survey also asked respondents to identify “which characteristics of the candidate are important to you in deciding how to cast your vote.”
Eighty-five percent of those surveyed listed the “ability to maintain national security” as a significant determinant behind their decision on who to support in the election.
Other characteristics more than 80% of pastors see as essential qualities in a candidate are their “ability to protect religious freedom” (84%), their “position on foreign policy” (83%), their “ability to improve the economy” (83%), their “position on immigration” (81%) and their “position on abortion” (80%).
“Pastors are not single-issue voters. They care deeply about where presidential candidates stand on many issues,” McConnell stated. “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.”