Why these surprising religious groups are supporting a Harris-Walz ticket

The newly energized electorate behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid is sweeping through faith-based sectors, even among voices who are unexpected.
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, aim to rally more of that support across different voting blocs at next week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which is set for August 19 through August 22. The nominees are expected to outline their vision for the nation, a message that will resonate deeply with some supporters while others will be simply looking for a pitch different from that of former President Donald Trump.
That latter sentiment among voters seeking a Trump alternative is emboldening a subset of voters to voice support for Harris, drawing public declarations from those who hadn’t shown the same support for President Joe Biden when he was the nominee. One person to recently make that declaration is New York Times opinion columnist David French, a Nashville area writer and Lipscomb University visiting professor, who said in a column Monday he’s voting for Harris “to save conservatism from itself.”
There are other faith voices in similar position to French. Meanwhile, faith groups already expected to support Harris are tapping into newfound enthusiasm and generated participation in faith-based voter engagement initiatives. Here’s how the Harris campaign is stirring the religion and politics pot.
The Harris-Walz campaign is boosting engagement with faith-adjacent election advocacy work that was already broadly aligned with Democrats’ goals.
Black Protestants and white nonevangelical Protestants already showed majority support for a Democrat in a Pew Research study in April, when Biden was still the nominee. Now, Harris’ entrance as a Black woman who identifies as a Baptist, has amplified that excitement among different religious groups.  
Religion News Service reported that 16,000-plus people attended a “Win With the Black Church Kick-Off Organizing Call” event organized by the Black Church PAC, which has also collected 8,000 signatures on petitions calling on legislators to support Harris. Also, the Progressive National Baptist Convention discussed get-out-the-vote opportunities for Harris at the denomination’s recent annual meeting, according to Religion News Service.
Meanwhile, National Catholic Reporter said young Catholics are more interested in the election and supporting Harris. Biden received some Catholic support when he was the nominee due to his Catholic faith. But these newly engaged Catholic voters are inspired less by Harris’ religious affiliation and more her stances on various social justice issues.
Harris’ campaign has drawn out more direct support from those who may have sympathized with Democrat ideals but might not have gone out of their way to endorse Biden’s former candidacy.
Those kind of faith leaders have now unified around Harris through groups like Evangelicals for Harris. With backing from a mix of progressive-to-moderate voices, Evangelicals for Harris has sought to offer a counter narrative to evangelicals’ overwhelming support for Trump.
Among the group’s featured proponents is Texas pastor Dwight McKissic, who’s been active in both the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention, a group typically supportive of Republicans, and the Nashville-based National Baptist Convention, USA, an association of Black Baptists typically supportive of Democrats. McKissic disagrees with Harris’ stance on abortion but is basing his decision to support Harris on the fact she’s the more qualified candidate, reported Christianity Today.  
Positions like McKissic’s has fueled criticism among the Christian right.
“Nevertheless, the group aims to convince evangelicals of the Christian bona fides of Kamala Harris, but they have to distort orthodox Christianity to do so,” said Denny Burk, president of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, a well-known advocacy group for traditionalist position. “It is, in fact, a betrayal of the gospel.”
Outcry over positions exhibited by groups like Evangelicals for Harris took on a new fervor when the New York Times published French’s latest column, “To Save Conservatism From Itself, I Am Voting for Harris.”
French, who holds typical traditionalist views such as opposing abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, said Trump poses an overall greater threat to French’s conservative religious worldview than he does a net benefit.
“It is difficult to overstate the viciousness and intolerance of MAGA Christians against their political foes,” said French in the column. “There are many churches and Christian leaders who are now more culturally Trumpian than culturally Christian. Trump is changing the church.”
French’s many critics on the right pointed to the column as an indictment on evangelical leaders compromising their values for wider cultural acceptance.
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But for French, that same sort of acquiescence he’s accused of is exactly what he cannot bring himself to do for Trump.
“I’m often asked by Trump voters if I’m ‘still conservative,’ and I respond that I can’t vote for Trump precisely because I am conservative. I loathe sex abuse, pornography and adultery,” French said in the column. “Trump has brought those vices into the mainstream of the Republican Party.”
Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. Reach him at [email protected] or on social media @liamsadams.