The Research Pilot
Every election year, think pieces and articles are written about the political alignments of Latinos and of Latino evangelicals in particular; however, the sparse information presented tends to be about Latino evangelicals, not from them. This summer, the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC), UNDIVIDED, and Brandeis University embarked on a pilot project to address this gap. Five bilingual Latino community co-researchers were trained to help develop questions, conduct interviews, and analyze data. The co-researchers contributed over 60 collective hours to the project. Eleven pastors participated in a focus group and 27 congregants from Latino evangelical churches in Central Florida were interviewed. The methodology and findings are promising and provide a firm foundation to be built upon in new locations and cultural contexts so that organizers, advocates, and elected officials can begin speaking with Latino evangelicals instead of at them.
Key Preliminary Findings
Two overriding themes emerged. First, Christianity operates both as a signifier of values and as an identity, meaning that context is critical in understanding the extent to which Latino evangelicals feel that Christianity is central to American life. Second, Latino evangelicals hold widely varied views on faith and politics. However, several critical patterns emerged through the analysis:
Christian nationalism was not a familiar term. However, 73% of respondents believe the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation or has a uniquely Christian identity. This signals that there is an opportunity to engage with congregants about what Christian identity means to them.
There is a shared impression that federal and state officials are not attuned to their needs, and tangible improvement resulting from government action is not evident in their experience.
Respondents are generally pessimistic about the country’s direction, with many feeling that the United States is stagnant or even moving backward.
The economy and immigration policies are uniting issues for respondents, regardless of their political orientation.
Candidates’ values are the most relevant factor when deciding who to support in an election, followed by experience and history with the Latino community.
Local churches are central to political and community engagement. Most interviewees serving their community do so through their church. Furthermore, most interviewees said they want their pastors to share their political and social views from the pulpit.
