A new joint survey from EWTN News and RealClear Opinion reveals that Catholic voters overwhelmingly support the Republican gubernatorial and Senate candidates in states such as Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania — just two weeks until the midterm elections (Nov. 8).
For the EWTN/RealClear poll — which chronicled the online English/Spanish responses of at least 500 Catholic voters in the six states over a five-day period (Oct. 14-18) — the survey goers also placed a high priority on the economy, inflation, and jobs when choosing among the various party candidates.
Here's a capsule review of the state-by-state preferences, heading into Election Day:
Arizona
In the governor's race, Catholic voters favor Republican Kari Lake (52.5%) over Democrat Katie Hobbs (46.9%).
For the Senate battle, Catholic voters support Republican Blake Masters (51.4%) over incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. (46.3%).
Florida
Incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis has a favorability rate of 61.4% among Catholic voters, compared to only 34.5% for Democrat challenger Charlie Crist.
Sticking with the blowout theme, for the Senate race, Catholic voters surveyed favor incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. (59.1%) over Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla. (36.9%), the Democrat challenger.
Georgia
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp posted the largest lead of this survey (36 percentage points), collecting 67.1% of Catholic votes in the state. Conversely, Democrat challenger Stacey Abrams accounted for just 31.1% of the Catholic support.
For the Senate battle, Catholic voters overwhelmingly prefer Republican challenger Herschel Walker (64.7%) over incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga. (32.7%).
Nevada
At the gubernatorial level, Republican Joe Lombardo posted a favorability rate of 55.6%, considerably higher than incumbent Democrat Gov. Steve Sisolak (34.2%).
Republican candidate Adam Laxalt scored very well among Catholic voters (56.7%), easily eclipsing incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. (36.4%).
Ohio
Incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, fared extremely well among Catholic voters (61.3%), while Democrat challenger Nan Whaley tallied just 34.4%.
Among Catholic voters, Republican challenger J.D. Vance posted a solid advantage in the Senate race (55.5%) over Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio (41%).
Pennsylvania
For the Senate race, Republican challenger Dr. Mehmet Oz (50.7%) leads Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (45.2%), a Democrat, by a healthy margin.
And for the final contest, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (50.8%) was the only Democrat to prevail among Catholic voters. State Sen. Doug Mastriano yielded a favorability rate of 44.5% — the lowest of any Republican from the six-state survey.
Dr. Matthew Bunson, executive editor of EWTN News, released the following statement on the survey findings:
"As we approach the final weeks of the 2022 midterm elections, the views of Catholic voters in these pivotal six swing states are coming more into focus," said Bunson.
He continued: "Not only does the EWTN/Real Clear Opinion Research poll show general dissatisfaction with President Biden which appears to be influencing each state's respective Senate and gubernatorial races, but it shows that the main issue driving Catholic voters are, by and large, related to the economic uncertainty so many are experiencing.
"It's also clear that measures to protect the unborn are very popular among likely Catholic voters, especially when compared with those who say that abortion should be legal throughout all nine months of pregnancy," said Bunson.
From a national perspective, the EWTN News/RealClear survey produced the following results:
- For all six states, at least 59% of Catholic respondents — when rounding off — viewed the "economy, jobs, inflation, rising interest rates" as the most pressing collective issue, heading into the midterms.
- Among Catholic voters, President Joe Biden didn't clear 40% for any of the six job-approval ratings. His highest rating came in Arizona (39.5%), and the lowest marks occurred with Georgia (29.9%).
- Regarding abortion, at least 69% of Catholic voters favor a nationwide abortion ban after 15 weeks of a woman's pregnancy. The highest score involved Georgia (78%), and Nevada posted the lowest tally (69%).
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