Every U.Due south. presidential ballot since 2004 has featured at least one Catholic candidate on one of the major party tickets. Only if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins this November, he volition exist only the 2nd Catholic always to assume the state's highest office – John F. Kennedy was the first with a groundbreaking win in 1960.

Biden talks openly near his personal behavior on the campaign trail, and his religion was a central theme at the contempo Democratic National Convention. Having a Catholic candidate on a political party ticket, withal, does non guarantee support from Catholic voters. U.Southward. Catholics, who make upwards roughly one-fifth of the population, have a various range of political opinions, even on topics the Catholic Church has taken a clear stance on.

Here are eight facts most Catholics and politics in the U.s.a., based on previously published Pew Research Heart studies.

Run across also: Similar Americans overall, U.S. Catholics are sharply divided by political party

U.S. Catholics have long been divided politically

U.S. Catholics are split down the heart politically. Around half of Cosmic registered voters (48%) describe themselves as Republicans or say they lean toward the Republican Party, while roughly the same share (47%) identify with or lean toward the Autonomous Party, co-ordinate to Pew Inquiry Center polls in 2018 and 2019.

In contempo presidential elections, Catholic voters have swung back and along between the Republican and Autonomous candidates. In 2016, 52% of Catholics backed Republican Donald Trump while 44% voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton, according to a Pew Research Centre survey of validated voters (that is, members of the Heart's nationally representative American Trends Panel who were matched to voter files). Catholics also narrowly backed Republican George W. Bush over Democrat John Kerry in 2004, according to exit polls.

Catholics chose Democrat Barack Obama over Republican John McCain in 2008 by a margin of 54% to 45%, and divided their votes almost exactly in one-half in 2012 (when Obama defeated Republican Paw Romney) and 2000 (when Bush defeated Democrat Al Gore).

White Catholics are trending toward the Republican Party, while Hispanic Catholics have remained solidly Democratic

White and Hispanic Catholics are very unlike politically. Nearly six-in-x White Cosmic registered voters (57%) identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, marking a big shift since 2008, when four-in-ten (41%) supported the GOP. About Hispanic Catholic voters (68%), meanwhile, identify as Democrats or lean Democratic, a share that has remained fairly stable in the by decade. (Two-thirds of Catholic registered voters are White, while a quarter are Hispanic, co-ordinate to information collected in 2018 and 2019.)

Around six-in-ten White Catholics plan to vote for Trump, while about two-thirds of Hispanic Catholics back Biden

Catholics' views of Trump are conspicuously divided past race and ethnicity. In a poll conducted in late July and early Baronial – among a surge in U.S. coronavirus cases – 54% of White Catholics overall said they corroborate of Trump's operation as president, but 69% of Hispanic Catholics said they disapprove of the way he is handling his chore. And 59% of White Catholic registered voters said they would vote for Trump, or lean that mode, if the ballot were held today; among Hispanic Catholic registered voters, 65% said they would vote for Biden today. There was a similar carve up in the last presidential election: 64% of White Catholics voted for Trump in 2016, according to a Pew Inquiry Center survey of validated voters conducted at the time, while 78% of Hispanic Catholics voted for Clinton.

When information technology comes to specific policy issues, Catholics are often more aligned with their party than with the teachings of their church. On ballgame, for example, 77% of Democratic and Autonomous-leaning Catholic adults say they think ballgame should be legal in all or most cases, while 63% of Republican and Republican-leaning Catholics say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, according to a 2019 survey. This divide exists despite the Catholic Church'due south formal opposition to abortion.

Catholics, much like U.S. public, are deeply polarized along partisan lines

On immigration, 91% of Catholic Democrats oppose expanding the wall along the border between the U.Southward. and Mexico, while 81% of Catholic Republicans favor expanding the wall, according to a separate 2019 survey. The U.Southward. Conference of Catholic Bishops has condemned Trump's plan to build such a wall, and Pope Francis described the desire to build a border wall equally "not Christian."

These differences reflect a general political polarization amidst the U.South. public.

Catholics, like members of many other religious groups, don't necessarily seek a president who shares their religious beliefs, but they desire a president who lives a moral and upstanding life. About six-in-x Catholics (62%) say it is very important to them to have a president who personally lives a moral and ethical life, and this view is shared by similar shares of White and Hispanic Catholics, according to a February 2020 survey. Just xiv% of Catholics say it is very important to them to take a president who shares their own religious beliefs, though Hispanic Catholics are nearly twice as probable as White Catholics to say this (22% vs. ix%).

Catholics view religious organizations as forces for expert in gild, simply a clear majority say churches and other religious organizations should keep out of politics. About six-in-ten Catholics (62%) say U.Southward. churches and other houses of worship should keep out of politics, while 37% say churches should express their views on day-to-day social and political matters, co-ordinate to a 2019 survey. Around three-quarters of U.South. Catholics (76%) say churches should not endorse candidates seeking elected function.

Among Republican Catholics, 46% say Biden is at least somewhat religious, 63% say the same about Trump

Partisanship colors Catholics' perceptions of how religious Trump and Biden are. Overall, around six-in-x Catholics (59%) say they think Biden is "very" or "somewhat" religious, according to a Feb 2020 survey. White and Hispanic Catholics express like views of Biden's religiousness, but Democratic Catholics (72%) are far more probable than Republican Catholics (46%) to say that he is at least somewhat religious.

Far fewer Catholics overall (37%) say Trump is at least somewhat religious, though the gap between Republicans and Democrats on this question is huge (63% vs. 10%).