Pastors answering Lifeway Research poll plan overwhelmingly to vote for Trump, but many hesitant to share preference
Support among pastors for former President Donald Trump remains high according to a recent poll conducted by Lifeway Research.
Like other Americans pastors are deciding who they’ll vote for in the November election, but unlike previous elections, they’re more hesitant to share their preference.
Almost all U.S. Protestant pastors (97%) plan to vote in the 2024 presidential election, according to a Lifeway Research study conducted Aug. 8-Sept. 3, 2024. But almost a quarter (23%) refused to answer the question of whom they plan to vote for. Few felt the same hesitancy in 2020 (4%) or 2016 (3%).
Still, among those who plan to vote and shared their preference, 50% say former President Donald Trump is their choice, while a quarter (24%) back Vice President Kamala Harris and 23% are undecided. No third-party candidate garnered more than 1% support.
The poll was conducted via phone of 1,003 Protestant pastors. The calling list was a stratified random sample, drawn from a list of all Protestant churches, according to Lifeway Research. Quotas were used for church size and each interview was conducted with the church’s senior pastor, minister, or priest.