Mitt Romney Trouncing Rick Santorum Among Catholics

By Daniel Burke
Religion News Service

(RNS) Mitt Romney has trounced Rick Santorum, an ardent Catholic, among Catholic voters, but Romney's support among evangelicals has wavered thus far in the GOP presidential primary, according to a new analysis of exit poll data.

Though he won evangelicals in two states, in general Romney has performed 15 percentage points better among non-evangelicals, according to an analysis released Friday (March 2) by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Exit poll data is available in seven of the 11 states that have held primary contests to date, according to the Pew Forum. More detailed religious affiliations are available in six of those states.

White evangelicals formed more than a third of all GOP primary voters in each state except for Nevada (24 percent) and New Hampshire (21 percent). Romney, a Mormon, won the evangelical vote in those two states, and nearly tied for first in Arizona and Florida. But he lost the evangelical vote badly in three states: Michigan, Iowa and South Carolina.

Somewhat surprisingly, Santorum has not won the Catholic vote in a single state in which data is available, according to the Pew Forum.

Romney won the Catholic vote by at least 25 points in Florida, New Hampshire and Nevada. Romney also won 47 percent of the Catholic vote in Arizona, compared to Santorum's 33 percent. In Michigan, Romney bested Santorum among Catholics 44 to 37 percent.

Santorum has spoken far more about his faith during the campaign, while Romney has largely been mum on his Mormonism.

According to numerous separate polls, a significant minority of GOP voters, especially evangelicals, remain reluctant to vote for a Mormon president. Most Mainline Protestants and Catholics do not display the same aversion.

Romney, who has won more primary elections and delegates than any other GOP candidate, also won the Protestant vote in three states: New Hampshire, Nevada and Arizona.

However, the Pew Forum notes that Romney's success among Protestants in Nevada and Arizona is boosted by their large Mormon populations. (The Pew Forum does not typically consider Mormons Protestant, but exit polls often do). Romney won 88 percent of the Mormon vote in Nevada and 96 percent in Arizona.

Texas congressman Ron Paul has performed the best among religiously unaffiliated voters in the two states -- Nevada and New Hampshire -- where they participated in large enough numbers to be analyzed.

Comments

[4httr]

06:00 PM on 03/07/2012

Many if not most Catholics are not on board with the vocal American hierarchy and their front man Santorum. He's a Catholic at the extreme right of the institution along with the majority of American Bishops. Typical American Catholics have tuned them out choosing instead to live in the 21st century rather than the Middle Ages.

[sweetlilthing]

09:44 AM on 03/07/2012

Traditional Catholics don't follow the Catholic Church's voting guides so it's not surpirising that after Santorum's wacky ideas about Christians in the year 2012, Catholic voters would not be behind him.

[alterego55]

09:53 AM on 03/07/2012

Catholics don't follow the Catholic Church's teachings on contraception either.

[Norcal2]

12:17 PM on 03/07/2012

Santorum is what's called a "Taliban Catholic". Its only about 10% of Catholics and the 90% rest of the Catholics cant stand them.

[spahtahnikas]

07:21 AM on 03/07/2012

Couldn't even read the title without having to ask: practicing or non-practicing Catholics?

[TYRANNASAURUS]

11:11 AM on 03/06/2012

Mitt Romney Trouncing Rick Santorum Among Catholics...

What's the big deal....That just goes to prove that all Catholics are not stupid...SO?

[john rajah]

03:48 AM on 03/06/2012

Do Mormons-who baptise dead Atheists and Jews-baptise dead Catholics as well?

Do Catholics consider Mormons as having left the World of Christianity,as the Catholic Rick Santorum considers Protestants have?

[Zariana]

05:44 PM on 03/05/2012

Rick is an Evangelical in Catholic clothing.

In fact, it's becoming more and more annoying to see reporters describe Rick's belief system with the words "ardent" "devout" and "Catholic" all in the same sentence. He rejects Catholic teaching on Biblical interpretation and their support for Evolutionary Biology. And that's just for starters.

[YeOldeSnark]

12:17 PM on 03/07/2012

Santorum is like Mussolini and the Vichy in France in the 1930s. They parade their Catholic loyalty and identity for brazen political purposes while believing few if any of the CC's teachings.

Support for Romney by Catholics and even greater support for Obama (to be seen in November) manifests a massive repudiation of the hierarchy's power over the minds and hearts of the people.

[Zariana]

07:40 PM on 03/07/2012

Indeed.

A lot of people looked the other way on social issues...because, well, il Duce got the trains to run on time.

[sdave]

05:05 PM on 03/05/2012

I may not agree with many religious people, but I will say this: they can spot a phoney like Santorum when they see one....

[Hillbilly49]

05:04 PM on 03/05/2012

If would appear that all that time Brother Rickie spent flinging himself onto the cross was a waste of time.

[pfz]

04:31 PM on 03/05/2012

that's because most Catholics are not batshitecrazy, use contraception and believe everyone should have the option of a higher education if they want it.

[Hillbilly49]

05:06 PM on 03/05/2012

I think you are correct !  Brother Rickie assumed that the average Roman Catholic voter was as "whacked out" as the average Faux Nooze viewer.

[marind]

05:43 PM on 03/05/2012

I'm certainly no fan of the RCC, but I agree that Catholics (as opposed to their church) are a lot smarter than what Santorum thinks.

[pfz]

09:42 PM on 03/05/2012

your second comment was removed there must be some sensitive mods here...your right of course the radical right has a blind spot for the absurdity of their positons.

[Cranmer1549]

04:27 PM on 03/05/2012

"Mitt Romney Trouncing Rick Santorum Among Catholics"

That's because the world view of the bishops that Santorum is promoting is not shared by rank-and-file cafeteria Catholics.

[relevancematters]

09:29 AM on 03/07/2012

I think it speaks well of "cafeteria Catholics" that they know better than to swallow a corrupt system whole, or to welcome without question rabid wolves in sheeps clothing like Santorum and the bishops.

[camelias and sweet tea]

03:03 PM on 03/05/2012

This guy does not act like any catholic I have ever know....He is more like a Pentacostal and is even more extreme than they are.. He is soooooo obsessed and extreme it is just plain nutz.

[RedIvan88]

01:09 PM on 03/05/2012

I'm Catholic and I'd never vote for Santorum. The guy is way too far right. Romney on the other hands seems to at least have a good head on his shoulders

[phal4875]

05:18 PM on 03/05/2012

Yeah, but it isn't his own.

[Nate35]

12:46 PM on 03/05/2012

Rick talks far more like an evangelical than the average Catholic. Hell, the entire idea of the Catholic Church is to let the priests worry about Jesus so you don't have to.

[RayManza]

12:14 PM on 03/05/2012

There are 68.5 million Catholics in this country. There are fewer than 5 million Evangelicals and Mormons combined. Of course many Catholics are going to support Romney, Catholics are the most diverse faith group there is. Romney would be an outstanding president. So would Santorum. So would Newt Gingrich. Congress is the problem, and everyone knows it. Who is the person or team that can work the intricacies of Congressional lawmaking to get this nation off life support? Many people think the nation can be fixed like Bain Capital or the Olympics. I'd argue the problem is much bigger than that and requires a team that understands the House and the Senate with expert sophistication. Individual leadership is most needed in the Department of Treasury, another place Mitt Romney would fit perfectly.

[phal4875]

05:20 PM on 03/05/2012

I believe that just under half of the world's Mormons live in the U.S. There are 14 million Mormons worldwide, and just about 6 million are here. That alone gets us beyond "fewer than 5 million" combined.

[Tomaniac]

10:32 AM on 03/05/2012

Rick acts more like an evangelical fundamentalist than he does a Catholic. The Mormon faith is however very similar to the Catholic faith, with the main difference initially stemming from the desire of men to be able to practice polygamy by using their unproven and fantastical Latter Day teachings of Jesus and interpretation of "freedom of religion" to try and gain acceptance.

As the Mormon Church grew, other faiths freaked out and pushed back on the concept of polygamy and Mormon leadership backed down as polygamy became illegal with the "Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act" signed into law by Lincoln in 1862, but the genie was out of the bottle and the Mormon leadership understood the kind of wealth that they could garner from their faithful and the power that comes from it to affect politics and policy.

Mormons set forth to increase their membership by employing "Missions" much like the Catholic Church did for centuries and now the Mormon faith is one of the fastest growing in the world.

The parallels between the Catholic and Mormon Church are un-deniable.

[camelias and sweet tea]

03:00 PM on 03/05/2012

I lived in New York and I lived in Utah and Arizona...The catholic church is NOTHING at all like the Catholic church..

[NHBill]

03:10 PM on 03/05/2012

wanna try that again?

[pfz]

04:35 PM on 03/05/2012

there are parallels because Smith used the Church as a template but doctrine is completely different. When did Catholics ever practice polygamy? No, in this you are mistaken there is zero commonality between the two.

[relevancematters]

09:32 AM on 03/07/2012

Not to mention the Mormon belief that men achieve status of demigods--not too Catholic there, either.