Evangelicals, Now More Influential Than Ever

Born-again Christians have more of an impact over this year's election cycle than ever before! According to a new analysis by the Faith and Freedom Coalition, evangelicals make up half—50.53 percent—of all voters in the 2012 Republican primary, an increase that is felt in almost every state. Though Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich have pretty much split the votes from this demographic between them, Santorum is likely responsible for rallying so many evangelicals to get involved in the first place—throwing off the original assumption that the economy was going to be the sole motivator in this race. "The conventional wisdom going into this election was that the issues that motivate these voters weren't going to be much of a factor in the election," said coalition chairman Ralph Reed. "And I think the conventional wisdom, as is often the case, is not going to be right."