Republican Party (United States)

==== Religious communities ====
{{main|Religion and politics in the United States|Bible Belt}}
{{see also|The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and politics in the United States}}
Religion has always played a major role for both parties, but in the course of a century, the parties' religious compositions have changed. Religion was a major dividing line between the parties before [[1960 United States presidential election|1960]], with Catholics, Jews, and southern Protestants heavily Democratic and northeastern Protestants heavily Republican. Most of the old differences faded away after the realignment of the 1970s and 1980s that undercut the New Deal coalition.<ref>To some extent the [[United States Supreme Court]] decision ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' caused American Christians to blur their historical division along the line between Catholics and Protestants and instead to realign as conservatives or liberals, irrespective of the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation Era]] distinction.</ref> Voters who attended church weekly gave 61% of their votes to Bush in [[2004 United States presidential election|2004]]; those who attended occasionally gave him only 47%; and those who never attended gave him 36%. Fifty-nine percent of Protestants voted for Bush, along with 52% of Catholics (even though [[John Kerry]] was Catholic). Since 1980, a large majority of [[Evangelicalism|evangelicals]] has voted Republican; 70–80% voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004 and 70% for Republican House candidates in [[United States general elections, 2006|2006]].

Members of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], who reside predominantly in [[Utah]] and several neighboring states, voted 75% or more for [[George W. Bush]] in [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Grover|last=Norquist|title=Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YQu8IGTotBUC&pg=PA146|year=2008|publisher=HarperCollins|pages=146–149|isbn=978-0061133954}} The Democratic Obama administration's support for requiring institutions related to the Catholic Church to cover birth control and abortion in employee health insurance has further moved traditionalist Catholics toward the Republicans.</ref> Members of the Mormon faith had a mixed relationship with Donald Trump during his tenure, despite 67% of them voting for him in [[2016 United States presidential election|2016]] and 56% of them supporting his presidency in [[2018 United States elections|2018]], disapproving of his personal behavior such as that shown during the [[Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape|''Access Hollywood'' controversy]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/15/mormons-want-to-save-the-republican-partys-soul-but-is-it-too-late|title=Mormons want to save the Republican party's soul. But is it too late?|first=J. Oliver|last=Conroy|website=[[The Guardian]]|date=February 15, 2018|access-date=May 7, 2020|archive-date=November 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109035828/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/15/mormons-want-to-save-the-republican-partys-soul-but-is-it-too-late|url-status=live}}</ref> In the [[2020 United States presidential election]], Trump underperformed in heavily-Mormon [[2020 United States presidential election in Utah|Utah]] by more than ten percentage points compared to Mitt Romney (who is Mormon) in [[2012 United States presidential election in Utah|2012]] and George W. Bush in [[2004 United States presidential election in Utah|2004]]. Their opinion on Trump had not affected their party affiliation, however, as 76% of Mormons in 2018 expressed preference for generic Republican congressional candidates.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/11/29/most-mormons-voted/|title=Most Mormons voted Republican in the midterms—but their Trump approval rating continues to decline, study finds|first1=Hannah|last1=Fingerhut|first2=Brady|last2=McCombs|website=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=November 29, 2018|access-date=May 7, 2020|archive-date=January 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111065741/https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/11/29/most-mormons-voted/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Jews continue to vote 70–80% Democratic; however, a slim majority of [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jews]] voted for the Republican Party in 2016, following years of growing Orthodox Jewish support for the party due to its social conservatism and increasingly pro-Israel foreign policy stance.<ref name="Sales-Adkins-2020">{{cite news|work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]|title='I think it's Israel': How Orthodox Jews became Republicans|date=February 3, 2020|url=https://www.jta.org/2020/02/03/politics/i-think-its-israel-how-orthodox-jews-became-republicans|access-date=June 12, 2020|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115111043/https://www.jta.org/2020/02/03/politics/i-think-its-israel-how-orthodox-jews-became-republicans|url-status=live}}</ref> Over 70% of Orthodox Jews identify as Republican or Republican leaning as of 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hanau |first=Shira |date=May 11, 2021 |title=New Pew study shows 75% of Orthodox Jews identify as Republicans, up from 57% in 2013 |url=https://www.jta.org/2021/05/11/united-states/new-pew-study-shows-75-of-orthodox-jews-identify-as-republicans-up-from-57-in-2013 |access-date=November 23, 2022 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US |archive-date=November 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108140806/https://www.jta.org/2021/05/11/united-states/new-pew-study-shows-75-of-orthodox-jews-identify-as-republicans-up-from-57-in-2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> An exit poll conducted by the [[Associated Press]] for 2020 found 35% of [[Muslims]] voted for Donald Trump.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/11/03/929478378/understanding-the-2020-electorate-ap-votecast-survey|title=Understanding The 2020 Electorate: AP VoteCast Survey|author=NPR Staff|work=[[NPR]]|date=November 3, 2020|access-date=November 17, 2020|archive-date=February 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219064318/https://www.npr.org/2020/11/03/929478378/understanding-the-2020-electorate-ap-votecast-survey|url-status=live}}</ref> The mainline traditional Protestants (Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Disciples) have dropped to about 55% Republican (in contrast to 75% before 1968). Democrats have close links with the African American churches, especially the [[National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.|National Baptists]], while their historic dominance among Catholic voters has eroded to 54–46 in the 2010 midterms.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web|url=http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1791/2010-midterm-elections-exit-poll-religion-vote|title=Religion in the 2010 Elections|publisher=Pew Research Center|date=November 3, 2010|access-date=January 30, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206111210/http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1791/2010-midterm-elections-exit-poll-religion-vote|archive-date=February 6, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Although once strongly Democratic, [[Catholic Church in the United States|American Catholic]] voters have been politically divided in the 21st century with 52% of Catholic voters voting for Trump in [[2016 United States presidential election|2016]] and 52% voting for Biden in [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]]. While Catholic Republican leaders try to stay in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church on subjects such as abortion, contraception, euthanasia, and embryonic stem cell research, they tend to differ on the death penalty and same-sex marriage.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lee|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/18/politics/pope-encyclical-climate-change-catholic-republicans/|title=Pope hands GOP climate change dilemma|work=[[CNN]]|date=June 18, 2015|access-date=July 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705234555/http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/18/politics/pope-encyclical-climate-change-catholic-republicans/|archive-date=July 5, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Pope Francis]]' 2015 encyclical {{lang|it|[[Laudato si']]}} sparked a discussion on the positions of Catholic Republicans in relation to the positions of the Church.
The Pope's encyclical on behalf of the Catholic Church officially acknowledges a man-made climate change caused by burning fossil fuels.<ref>Thomas Reese, [http://ncronline.org/blogs/faith-and-justice/readers-guide-laudato-si "A readers' guide to 'Laudato Si'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630145312/http://ncronline.org/blogs/faith-and-justice/readers-guide-laudato-si |date=June 30, 2015 }}, ''National Catholic Register'', June 26, 2015.</ref> The Pope says the warming of the planet is rooted in a throwaway culture and the developed world's indifference to the destruction of the planet in pursuit of short-term economic gains. According to ''The New York Times'', ''Laudato si''' put pressure on the Catholic candidates in the 2016 election: [[Jeb Bush]], [[Bobby Jindal]], [[Marco Rubio]] and [[Rick Santorum]].<ref name=davenport>{{cite news|first=Caral|last=Davenport|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/us/politics/popes-views-press-gop-on-climate-change.html|title=Pope's Views on Climate Change Add Pressure to Catholic Candidates|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 16, 2015|access-date=February 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519063735/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/us/politics/popes-views-press-gop-on-climate-change.html|archive-date=May 19, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

With leading Democrats praising the encyclical, James Bretzke, a professor of moral theology at [[Boston College]], has said that both sides were being disingenuous: "I think it shows that both the Republicans and the Democrats&nbsp;... like to use religious authority and, in this case, the Pope to support positions they have arrived at independently&nbsp;... There is a certain insincerity, hypocrisy I think, on both sides".<ref>{{cite web|first=Brian|last=Fraga|url=http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/political-role-reversal-democrats-praise-encyclical-while-gop-remains-cauti/#ixzz3f7S3YpSv|title=Political Role Reversal: Democrats Praise Encyclical, While GOP Remains Cautious|website=Ncregister.com|date=June 26, 2015|access-date=December 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227043512/http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/political-role-reversal-democrats-praise-encyclical-while-gop-remains-cauti#ixzz3f7S3YpSv|archive-date=February 27, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> While a Pew Research poll indicates Catholics are more likely to believe the Earth is warming than non-Catholics, 51% of Catholic Republicans believe in global warming (less than the general population) and only 24% of Catholic Republicans believe global warming is caused by human activity.<ref>{{cite news|title=Catholics Divided Over Global Warming|work=Pew Research|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/06/16/catholics-divided-over-global-warming/|date=June 16, 2015|access-date=July 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708154543/http://www.pewforum.org/2015/06/16/catholics-divided-over-global-warming/|archive-date=July 8, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>