The rise of the religious left in America

Faith can move mountains, they say. “And, as it turns out, it will also move the electorate,” said The Telegraph.

In the US midterms, avowedly religious Democrats clocked up win after win. Abdul El-Sayed became the first Muslim Senator in US history, while five current or prospective members of the Christian clergy were elected to Congress, including James Talarico in Texas and Adam Hamilton in Kansas. Many other Democrat candidates ran successful campaigns that channelled religious principles at their core.

All of which marks something of a turning point: religion in the US has long been seen as the “preserve of the Right, with Republicans traditionally viewed as the party of Christian values”, said The Telegraph. But these “significant wins for religious Democrats” set up faith as a new “political battleground” in the lead-up to the 2028 presidential election.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

‘Inclusive’ Christianity

Scripture was the “rallying cry” of the Left in these midterms, said The New York Times. References to Matthew 25 – where Jesus speaks of caring for the vulnerable – were a “favourite” among Democrats looking to “earn trust” from their state or district’s more moderate Christian voters. This religious messaging both stopped them being labelled as “godless”, and “successfully appealed to people frustrated with the cost of living”, the war in Iran, and divisions over immigration and healthcare. It was an “inclusive”, progressive push that reaped dividends.

Politicians on the Christian left have been trying to break through for a long while “but were mostly drowned out in primaries before they came close to reaching the national stage”, said Rolling Stone. But then, in just a few years of “profound corruption” and “incompetence”, Donald Trump, who had previously enjoyed support from many with a strong Christian faith, “accomplished what otherwise may have taken generations”: he “opened a door for the religious left to make incredible inroads”.

‘Progressive’ Islam

During his campaign for a Senate seat in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed spoke regularly about his Muslim faith. “He cited instruction by the prophet Muhammad, Islam’s founder, to be charitable to neighbours, which he interpreted as a responsibility to the people around you,” said The Washington Post. His election “brings new prominence to an expression of Islam that is both observant and progressive”.

He, and other prominent Muslim politicians in the US, such as Zohran Mamdani, are “raising public awareness of their faith”, precisely at a time of “increasing anti-Muslim rhetoric and vitriol from parts of the Republican Party”.

Earning trust of moderates

It may, though, be “too early to say whether this election marks the start of a realignment” among voters of faith, said The Wall Street Journal. For a Democratic Party that’s “long been wary” of mixing religion and politics, these victories by “unapologetically faith-based candidates” certainly mark a change of direction but the party’s broad support for abortion and transgender rights “still remain unpalatable” to many socially conservative voters.

To be successful in the 2028 presidential elections, the Democrats will need to keep winning over moderate Republicans for whom religion is important, said The New York Times. Candidates like Talarico have shown that their faith and “scriptural fluency” can achieve that. Running on a “duty to care for one another”, a core principle of many religions, could just be the party’s “new path to the White House”.