Religion and the 2012 Iowa Republican Caucuses

Pew Forum
January 4, 2012

Polling conducted as voters entered the 2012 Iowa caucuses shows a clear split between born-again evangelical Christians, who favored Rick Santorum, and other voters, who favored Mitt Romney.

Among the 57% of Iowa caucus-goers who describe themselves as born-again or evangelical Christians, Santorum finished in first place with 32% support. Ron Paul garnered 18% of the evangelical vote, while Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry each received 14% of the evangelical vote.

Among the 43% of Iowa caucus-goers who are not evangelical Christians, Romney was the winner, attracting 38% support. One-quarter of non-evangelical caucus-goers voted for Paul (26%). Santorum garnered 14% support among non-evangelical voters, similar to the 12% who supported Gingrich. the rest

Three Lessons From the Iowa Caucus Results