Religious Voters for De Blasio

Source: Edison Research. Chart: A Journey through NYC religions

With over 73% of the total vote Democrat Bill de Blasio scored well with the religious voters in the general election for mayor of New York. 73% of the religious voters also supported the Democratic nominee. Protestants and the smaller religious groups were the most inclined toward the Democratic nominee, though De Blasio received strong support from voters of all major religious groups. Evangelicals & Pentecostals reprised their pivotal role in pushing De Blasio ahead of the other candidates in the Democratic primary.

On Sunday De Blasio made a point to promise religious voters that he would treat them fairly. De Blasio said Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s conflicts with religious groups seemed to be the result of a “blind spot” to the importance of faith-based groups in the city. “I don’t think the mayor really understands how crucial it is to protecting the fabric of the city,” De Blasio said in an interview with The New York Times. He has said that he will support opening the public schools for rental in the off hours by religious groups to hold worship services. Although he said that his spirituality does not take the form of any particular religion, De Blasio has said that he admired the Catholic liberation theology movement.

Voters who indicated a religious identity in an exit poll administered by Edison Research made up 87% of the voters.  Catholics and Protestants voters made up 60% of the electorate.

Religious VoteUpdated

Source: Edison Research. Chart: A Journey through NYC religions

In his victory speech De Blasio crafted a framework that included both secular and religious faiths as essential ingredients in his administration. He said, “New York is the brightest embodiment of the idea behind American greatness: It doesn’t matter where you were born, what you look like, what your religion is, or who you love. If you have brains and heart and guts and faith, this city – more than any other in the world – will offer you a real chance at a better life. .. . Thanks you and God bless you!”

——————————————————-

Also see our “Protestants loomed large in the Democratic Party primary” and the rest of our 2013 Election coverage.

 

The Election Day poll was based on questionnaires completed by 2,079 voters as they left 40 randomly chosen precincts across the city on Tuesday. The polls were conducted by Edison Research of Somerville, N.J.  Based on the sample size, the exit poll results are not very likely to vary more than 4% +/- from the actual voting patterns.