"Evangelicals in the pews seem to be as conservative as ever, offering little support to the liberal legislative agendas of their ostensible spokespersons." -- Mark Tooley, IRD President

Contact: Jeff Walton, Institute on Religion and Democracy, 202-682-4131, 202-413-5639 cell, jwalton@TheIRD.org

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 /Christian Newswire/ -- Liberal hopes for increasing political support from evangelical Christians are not materializing, according to data from the most recent midterm elections and issue polls.

Legislation championed by the Evangelical Left, such as global warming regulation, loosened immigration controls and Obamacare, is either stalled or increasingly unpopular among evangelicals in the pews.

Data from the 2010 election exit polls also casts doubt on claims that evangelical voters are trending leftward. In the CNN exit poll, 77 percent of self-described white evangelicals or born again Christians voted Republican. This number is higher than the 74 percent who supported George W. Bush's reelection in 2004, considered a high water mark for conservative evangelical activism. Seventy percent of white evangelicals and those identifying as "born-again" voted Republican in 2008 and 2006. The total white Protestant vote (including members of more liberal mainline denominations) was 69 percent Republican this year, compared to 65 percent in 2004 and slightly less in 2008 and 2006. Total Protestant and other non-Catholic Christian support for Republicans was 59 percent this year, compared to 57 percent in 2004.

IRD President Mark Tooley commented:

"If the Evangelical Left has indeed made inroads with evangelical Christians, it seems mostly confined to elites on seminary and college campuses and among some parachurch and activist groups. Evangelicals in the pews seem to be as conservative as ever, offering little support to the liberal legislative agendas of their ostensible spokespersons.

"What has changed is the distance between overwhelmingly conservative evangelical voters and increasingly left-leaning evangelical elites.

"The ongoing recession, explosion of government spending, and liberal stances on abortion and homosexuality by the current Administration have likely solidified grassroots evangelicals overall within their traditional conservative politics.

"Like left-leaning mainline Protestant elites starting decades ago, evangelical elites increasingly will probably denounce their own constituency for its lack of political enlightenment."