Religion has always played a role in U.S. politics; even the country’s first recorded political party, the Federalists, had strong connections with the Protestant Congregational movement. Most recently, white Protestant evangelicals have been one of the most loyal constituencies of Donald Trump.
Now, in 2026, we may be witnessing a major shift in the way religion influences political life: In the midterm election cycle that culminated Tuesday with a firm rejection of Trumpism, we saw three of the most noteworthy victories coming not from Republicans aligned with evangelicalism but from Democrats aligned with mainline Protestantism or Islam.
Evangelicalism still played a role, however, particularly in state ballot measures where evangelicals campaigned with mixed results.
Here are five takeaways related to religion from this week’s elections:
1. Seminarian and pastor, both from mainline Protestantism, win Senate seats in Texas and Kansas
When the year began, the idea that Democrats could win U.S. Senate seats in Texas and Kansas was unthinkable. But James Talarico, a mainline Presbyterian seminarian, and Adam Hamilton, the pastor of a United Methodist megachurch in Kansas City, Kan., did exactly that.
The fact that both of them ran against weak Republicans certainly helped: Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general who was once impeached by the Texas House and was controversial even among Republicans. And Hamilton defeated Roger Marshall, a one-term incumbent, whose campaign was marred by a history of suing some 700 patients for unpaid pills from when he was an obstetrician.
Hamilton will become the second ordained minister to join the U.S. Senate as a Democrat; already serving is Raphael Warnock, the junior senator from Georgia and a mainline Baptist.
2. Senate to get first Muslim
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and public-health administrator by profession, will become the U.S. Senate’s first Muslim after handily defeating Mike Rogers, a former member of the U.S. House.
Although El-Sayed’s faith was an issue in the campaign — some Republicans including Trump used anti-Islam slurs against him — he received more scrutiny because of his progressive political views and his criticism of Israel.
Although El-Sayed will be the first Muslim in the Senate, the House has had Muslim members since 2007. The House currently includes four Muslims.
3. Voters say no to trans women or girls in female sports or in female bathrooms
Evangelical activists have made their opposition to the acceptance of trans persons in school sports and public restrooms an issue, and they had success in four ballot measures they supported this week: Arizona voters passed Proposition 318, which prohibits schools from authorizing a student, athlete, employee or any other individual to use a restroom, locker room, shower room or other private space that is not designated for that person’s sex. Colorado voters approved Proposition 134, which requires student athletes to participate on teams that match their sex assigned at birth. Nebraska voters okayed Initiative 442, which strengthens an existing ban on biological males in school female sports. And although a third of the votes remain to be counted, it appears that Washington voters approved Measure 638, which would require a health provider’s verification that students participating in girls’ or women’s sports are biologically female.
A provision opposing transsexual surgery for minors was not successful in Missouri, however, where such a ban was included in an abortion measure (see section below).
4. Voters back abortion legalization in three states, not Idaho
Voters in three stated indicated their approval of legalizing most abortion. In Virginia and Nevada, that came in approval of state constitutional amendments recognizing an abortion right.
In Missouri, however, that came in the form of rejecting Amendment 3, which would have prohibited most abortions. It would have had the effect of reversing the Amendment 3 of 2024, which granted a state constitutional right of reproductive freedom. This year’s Amendment 3 also included a provision prohibiting transsexual surgery or puberty-blocking drugs for minors. (It would not have prohibited such drugs when they are administered for purposes other than gender transition.)
Idaho went in the opposite direction, where voters rejected Proposition 1, which would have recognized the right to abortion and overridden existing state law, one of the country’s strictest abortion bans. Although early polls suggested most voters favored support for Proposition 1, it appears to have been doomed by late opposition from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which contributed $1 million to the anti-abortion campaign. Evangelical and Catholic groups also opposed the proposition.
5. White evangelicals stand firm for Republicans
According to exit polling, 82 percent of voters who describe themselves as white evangelicals or born-again Christians voted Republican on Tuesday. The number is unchanged from the 2024 elections. One difference, however, is that this year a smaller percentage of voters, 17 percent, described themselves white evangelicals or born again, compared with 23 percent two years ago. The numbers available don’t indicate whether the drop in evangelical voters is due to more of them not voting or whether voters have changed the way they identify in terms of religion.