Can clergy candidates help Democrats win in red states?
Up First from NPR
The episode explores a growing trend of Democratic clergy members running for congressional seats in traditionally Republican states like Te
Key takeaways
- James Tallarico is running for Senate in Texas, using the Beatitudes to connect with voters harmed by recent policies.
- Frederick Haynes, pastor of Friendship West Baptist Church, is running in Texas following significant redistricting changes.
Main topics
- Clergy in political campaigns
- Democratic strategies in red states
Notable quotes
I'm a Luke 4 Christian.
Conclusion
While controversial, the use of religious identity by Democratic candi
Transcript preview
Speaker 3 (0:00) I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and this is a Sunday Story. Election day is just weeks away, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Democrats need to pick up four seats in the House and four in the Senate to take control of Congress. Something that might help them do it? A different kind of Democratic candidate. One who talks about faith. Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. Like Sarah Trone Garriott. Everyone Speaker 7 (0:27) is your neighbor. Speaker 4 (0:28) I'm a Luke 4 Christian. Speaker 3 (0:30) Frederick Haynes. Because Speaker 4 (0:31) Jesus says, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he's anointed me to preach good news to the poor. And Speaker 6 (0:38) Lindsay James. It's about showing up for people. It's about listening without judgment. It's about offering hope. And it's about telling the truth. Speaker 3 (0:46) Why are these Democratic candidates so good at talking about religion? Well, they're clergy. Unlike Republicans, who aren't shy talking about religion on the campaign trail, these Democratic clergy have to thread a very fine needle, appeal to people of faith, but do so in a way that doesn't turn off the base. Meanwhile, Republicans are on their own mission to discredit these candidates. Here's Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. I've never seen so much blasphemy from anyone running for office. And Republican businessman Joe Mitchell. I Speaker 1 (1:25) call them pinos. Pastors are the name only because they're not real pastors. They don't profess the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Speaker 3 (1:32) Today on the Sunday Story, we'll take a closer look at some of these Democratic clergy candidates, ask why they're running, and whether their messages are resonating with voters. Stay with us. Speaker 5 (1:48) This message comes from Pod Save America. Every week, John Lovett, Tommy Vietor, Jon Favreau, and Dan Pfeiffer dive deep into political news with guests from across the political spectrum. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and Speaker 1 (2:02) on YouTube. This is Ira Glass. On This American Life, we tell stories about when things change. Like for this guy David, whose entire life took a sharp, unexpected, and very unpleasant turn. And it did take me a while to realize it. It's basically because the monkey pressed the button. That's right. Because the monkey pressed the button. Surprising stories every week, wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 5 (2:27) As the political landscape shifts beneath our feet, we're all vulnerable to a well-funded distraction economy determined to take our eye off the ball. Our weekly politics series, If You Can Keep It, is here to help, where our focus is not the horse race, but the state. We tackle the big political stories of the day and why they matter for our democracy. Join me, Todd Zwilich. And me, Jen White, on the 1A Podcast from Speaker 3 (2:49) WAMU and NPR. Welcome back to The Sunday Story. I'm here with NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose, who's been following four Democratic clergy candidates in competitive races. Welcome to the podcast. Speaker 2 (3:04) Hello. It's good to be here. Speaker 3 (3:06) So, Jason. At Week in Edition, you know, my other job, we've done like a number of interviews about how religion is playing a role in politics right now. You've been covering religion for years. Did you ever think you'd see a critical mass of clergy running as Democrats? I think it's about like six or seven, depending on who you count. Speaker 2 (3:29) Well, Aisha, it's certainly remarkable. After the election in 2000, I remember reporting on progressive people of faith trying to counter the George W. Bush administration, specifically his compassionate conservatism. But a lot of those efforts never got off the ground or just really fizzled. What's different this time around is not just talk about progressive values. This time around, it's clergy who are the candidates, people trained to speak about Scripture and faith and inspire people to live out that faith in public life. As many pastors will tell you, a big part of the job is rallying people around their beliefs to make a difference in political life, whether that's about health care or abortion. Speaker 3 (4:10) So before we get into the specific clergy who are running. What do you think is driving clergy who identify as Democrats to actually run for office? Like, was this coordinated in some way? Well, Speaker 2 (4:27) nobody I spoke with says they were recruited specifically because they're clergy. They say they decided to run as a response to their calls to ministry, their calls to faith, their calls to public life and a service to neighbor. They see some of the actions of the Trump administration and they say their faith compels them to take action and run. Speaker 3 (4:46) That's very interesting to see it showing up like on the left in that way. So, Jason, tell me about some of these candidates like. Who are we talking about here? I Speaker 2 (4:57) reported on two candidates from Texas and two candidates from Iowa, both states that voted for Trump in 2024. In fact, Trump carried both states by a margin of more than 13 percent. So very red states. Probably the most high-profile candidate is James Tallarico. He's the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas. He's currently a state representative in the Texas House, a former middle school teacher, and a student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. So he's not quite clergy yet. He's a minister in training, but he does preach regularly. Speaker 5 (5:38) I want to speak to you this morning, not as a candidate, but as a fellow Christian. On Speaker 2 (5:43) a Sunday this summer, he stood at the pulpit of Brentwood Baptist Church in Houston. Speaker 5 (5:48) My granddad was a Baptist preacher in South Texas. And when I was real little, he told me that Christianity is a simple religion. Speaker 2 (5:59) Simple, he says, but not easy. Speaker 5 (6:02) Because Jesus gave us two commandments to follow. Love God. And love neighbor. Speaker 2 (6:08) On this morning, Tallarico was preaching on a passage from the Gospel of Luke. Speaker 5 (6:13) Sometimes we see the world most clearly through our tears. If your heart is breaking as you watch what's happening to our beloved country, it means you still have a heart. So blessed are you who weep. Speaker 2 (6:31) Blessed are you who weep. Tallarico often frames this campaign as being on the side of those who have been harmed by policies of the Trump administration and who are upset about it, those who weep. Speaker 3 (6:43) He's talking about the Beatitudes there, right? And, you know, I always personally think about the scripture that says God is close to the brokenhearted. But that's what that comes from, right? Speaker 2 (6:57) Exactly. From the Gospel of Matthew. Blessed are those who weep. Blessed are the poor, the hungry, the persecuted. And he's aligning those blessings with the people in this congregation who feel harmed by the actions of the Trump administration and the GOP in general. The congregation he's addressing on this day is almost entirely Black. As we've reported extensively in Texas, Republican-led redistricting has diluted the Black vote and Black political power. So he's referring to the loss of that hard-won influence and that pain, the weeping it's caused. And Speaker 3 (7:32) I understand there's another clergy candidate running in Texas specifically because of redistricting. Speaker 2 (7:39) That's right. The Democratic nominee for the U.S. House District 30, which encompasses part of Dallas and some southern suburbs, Frederick Haynes. He is the head pastor of a large congregation, the 13,000-member Friendship West Baptist Church. He Speaker 4 (7:54) got up! He got up! That's why you ain't got to stay down, because he got up. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Speaker 2 (8:04) He's led the congregation for more than four decades. I visited Haynes while he was hosting an interfaith forum to talk about community needs and the need for Black and brown voices in politics. Speaker 4 (8:15) I've spent my ministry on the outside, you know, fighting what's happening inside. And now it's as if God is saying, OK, you've been called to bring outside voices and an outside vision in the House. Speaker 2 (8:37) Haynes says he was specifically inspired to run for Congress after the Texas legislature redistricted and eliminated one of the state's two black U.S. House districts. I asked him if there was a biblical passage that inspired both his ministry and this campaign. Speaker 4 (8:53) I'm a Luke 4 Christian, because Jesus says, The spirit of the Lord of God is upon me because he's anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He prioritizes those who've been made poor by systems. That's what the Greek says. Set the captives