Faith leaders on the ballot: 11 races to watch

This election cycle is shaping up to be an unusually faith-fueled affair.

The shift has been especially striking on the Democratic side, where 12 pastors, former pastors and seminarians ran for Congress this year, with eight eventually emerging as Democratic nominees. Even more surprising: Most of their races have turned out to be unexpectedly competitive, with faith-forward Democrats mustering real challenges for seats long held by Republicans.

Meanwhile, Republicans have also fielded some clergy as candidates, albeit fewer than Democrats. The result is a series of closely watched contests where religion has become a major theme — and, often, a point of debate.

Here are 11 races featuring faith leaders that Religion News Service is watching between now and Election Day.

Kansas U.S. Senate race

Could Kansas elect its first Democratic senator in nearly a century this year? That's the question surrounding the Rev. Adam Hamilton, the soft-spoken pastor of a United Methodist megachurch near Kansas City who made headlines in May when he launched his campaign for U.S. Senate. After cruising through the Democratic primary, Hamilton — whose church can attract north of 20,000 worshippers on an average Sunday — has captured national attention for emerging as a serious challenger to the state's incumbent Republican, Sen. Roger Marshall.

Hamilton's rise has triggered fierce pushback from Republicans, however. Attack ads portraying him as too "woke" for Kansas have been aired widely in the state, although Hamilton has argued the TV spots take his past sermons out of context. Both Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump have publicly attacked Hamilton's faith and religious credentials, with the president writing in a Truth Social post, "I wouldn't want Adam Hamilton being my pastor."

Yet Hamilton's U.S. Senate bid has already pushed conservatives to divert funds away from other races to Kansas, a deeply red state. And recent polls still show a close race: an Emerson College poll conducted in mid-September showed Hamilton with a slight edge over Marshall (45% to 43%), and a New York Times/Siena University poll conducted a few days later showed the two men tied (45%), with libertarian candidate David Graham a distant third (5%).

As a result, the Cook Political Report has changed its rating of the race three times in recent months, shifting from "Solidly Republican" to a status once thought unthinkable in Kansas: a toss-up.

Texas U.S. Senate race

When Texas State Sen. James Talarico began his U.S. Senate bid last September, his campaign launch video began with a shot of the candidate standing in front of a church. He then delivered remarks featuring multiple references to Christian Scripture and closing with a direct allusion to Jesus: "It's time to start flipping tables."

Since then, the campaign has leaned heavily on the faith of Talarico, a Presbyterian Church (USA) seminarian. After winning a hard-fought primary, he has offered Texas Democrats what appears to be their best chance in decades of electing one of their own to the U.S. Senate. His Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has struggled to disentangle himself from a series of old and new scandals, including past allegations of fraud and bribery. Paxton has also received a tepid response from supporters such as President Donald Trump, who has made negative comments about the attorney general's appearance and demeanor even as he endorsed the Texas Republican.

Even so, Republican leaders and their religious allies have railed against Talarico, with Dallas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress insisting Talarico is "not a Christian" and Paxton himself claiming his opponent espouses views that are "literally the opposite of Christianity." Some have highlighted Talarico's views on LGBTQ+ people and gender, such as his declaration that "God is nonbinary," with a National Republican Senatorial Committee official accusing him of "twisting Christian beliefs." Talarico, meanwhile, has distanced himself from some of his past remarks and said he opposes transgender student-athletes competing in girls' sports "if it endangers safety or fairness" — a position Talarico insists he's held for years, but is widely seen as a shift.

Talarico was also the subject of conservative speculation about a recent 12-day absence from the campaign trail, which his campaign has said was the result of a bad bout of flu.

Polls have repeatedly shown Talarico with an advantage over Paxton, with a new ReconMR—Siena Research Institute poll released on Tuesday (Oct. 13) showing the Presbyterian with a four-point lead (48%) over Paxton (44%). That's still within the margin of error, however, and the race may be tightening going into Election Day: In September, a New York Times/Siena University poll indicated a six-point lead for the Democrat (51% vs. 45%), and a September poll conducted by YouGov and the University of Massachusetts reported both candidates with 45% support.