Rebuking "progressive" as "just another word for godless," evangelical Franklin Graham is organizing a grassroots campaign for conservative votes against the "blue wall" in California, according to The New York Times.
Despite its deep blue voting pattern, California is a state with one in five evangelical Christians and more megachurches than any other state, according to the Pew Research Center, per the Times.
"The church just has to be wakened," Graham, considering himself a modern-day Paul Revere, told the Times. "People say, what goes in California is the way the rest of the nation is going to go. So, if we want to see changes, it is going to have to be done here.
". . . All of California is like a university town now. But you are beginning to see a groundswell of revolt out here. Orange County, San Diego County, are beginning to take on Governor [Jerry] Brown. It's good for Christians to capitalize on that. So, yah, we could help turn the tide."
Graham is pushing for those with Christian values to run for city council, mayor, or any other level of government to help stem California's blue wave.
"We're tired of being stepped on," Felix Martin del Campo told the Times. "Only as we change the heart of the people of California can California go red again."
It's campaign season for the California primaries set for June 5, and Graham is touring through the center of the state for two weeks prior, hoping to bring California's 13 percent voter base of the white, born-again Christians up closer to the national average of 26 percent.
Doing so could help turn the deep blue state of California to something closer to a shade of purple, the Times wrote.
"It is going to be impossible for [GOP] to save those [at-risk California] House seats without significant religious conservative turnout," Independent Califiornia consultant Dan Schnur told the Times. "Along with his other goals, Graham is smart enough to understand that turning out his strongest supporters on election day could be the difference between Speaker Kevin McCarthy [R-Calif.] and Speaker Nancy Pelosi [D-Calif.]."
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