In Florida, a new state House and Senate have elected new leaders and are getting ready to start a new session after the holidays.

The organizational session, the holidays, and the death of the Conservative Democrat across the nation had an interesting question emailed to us this week : “How many, if any, Christians are left in Florida’s Democratic party?”

That piqued our interest, so we started looking.

Methodology

Downloaded the names of Democratic elected members to the FL 114th Congressional Delegation and FL Legislature.

Visited each members’ official websites, noting the religious affiliation. If no official website, searched campaign sites and press clippings.

Inferred race by caucus affiliation and political activity when appropriate.

Avoiding any misunderstanding, Seventh-Day Adventist was coded as Christian.

Avoiding any misunderstanding, any member not declaring a religious affiliation was NOT coded as Christian.

Results

64 total elected Democratic officials include in this review. The break down of that number is as follows:

There are no current state-wide elected Democrat officials. (0/4 = 0%)

There is 1 federally state-wide elected Democrat (1/2=50%)

There are 7 elected Democratic Members of Congress in the newly elected House of Representatives. (11/27 = 40.7%)

There are 52 elected Democratic members to the Florida House and Senate. (52/160 = 32.5%) 38 reside in the Florida House (38/120=31.66%) 14 reside in the Florida Senate. (14/40= 35%)

33 of the 64 (52%) elected Democrats are minorities (28 African Americans, 5 Hispanic)

You can view and download the entire data set at the end of this post. (Please direct any corrections to OzeanMedia)

Religion in America

Using the non-partisan, Pew Research and the Religious Landscape Study described by Pew as:

An extensive new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life details statistics on religion in America and explores the shifts taking place in the U.S. religious landscape. Based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older, the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey finds that religious affiliation in the U.S. is both very diverse and extremely fluid.

78.4% of Americans consider themselves Christian – that is kind of a big number.

The political science literature is littered with notes of religious intensity and voting behavior.

As Pew shows us, while the over-all religious situation in America is somewhat ‘fluid’, America remains a Christian dominated country.

Religion, Race and the Democrat Party

“How many, if any, Christians are left in Florida’s Democratic party?”

The answer: Out of the entire 64 total Democratic officials, 41 (64%) declare themselves Christian, but as Corso says, “BUT NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND, there’s more.”

If we go a step closer and consider race, we find some interesting information and observe the real fault line in Florida’s Democrat Party.

Florida Democrats – Religion by Race – percentage

Group % of Democrats Number of Democrats AA, Christian 36% 23 White, Jewish 23% 15 White, Christians 20% 13 Hispanic, Christians 8% 4

Florida Democrats – Religion by Race – detail

Race Religion AA Hispanic White Grand Total African Methodist Episcopal 2 0 0 2 Baptist 12 0 1 13 Catholic 0 3 6 9 Christian 3 1 1 5 Episcopal 4 1 3 8 Jewish 0 0 15 15 Methodist 1 0 1 2 none listed 5 0 3 8 Presbyterian 0 0 1 1 Seventh-Day Adventist 1 0 0 1 Grand Total 28 5 31 64

Florida Christian Democrats by Religion, race=white

Chamber Member District Religious Affiliation Congress Graham, Gwen 2 Episcopal Congress Castor, Kathy 14 Presbyterian Congress Murphy, Patrick 18 Catholic Senate Nelson, Bill USSEN Episcopal FLHOUSE Jenne, Evan 99 Episcopal FLHOUSE Jacobs, Kristin 96 Methodist FLHOUSE Dwight, Dudley 68 Catholic FLHOUSE Murphy, Amanda 36 Christian FLHOUSE Rehwinkel Vasilinda, Michelle 9 Catholic FLSEN Sachs, Maria Lorts 34 Catholic FLSEN Abruzzo, Joseph 25 Catholic FLSEN Soto, Darren 14 Catholic FLSEN Montford, Bill 3 Baptist

Ramifications

I realize this blog post is mixing race and religion (yes, I am fun at the Holidays), but race and religion almost have to be talked about together at this point because they are so intertwined.

It is true that we can find little information as to the true base rate of Florida’s Christians/Jews among Party, and a valid point can be made as to this is nothing more than a reflection of redistricting.

No one is going to lament that the white Christian viewpoint is underrepresented in Florida; it isn’t.

However, it appears that the white Christian viewpoint is underrepresented in Florida’s Democratic party.

According to a Washington Post article written in 2012, The Politics of Race and Religion in Two Pie Charts, 35% of white Democrat voters in 2012 considered themselves Christian – that is 15% different than Florida’s Democratic delegation of elected officials. Even accounting for Florida’s increased Jewish population, this still remains a stark difference.

This under-representation makes one consider the long-term ramifications, if any, for Florida Democrats and the Democratic party.

We can observe the Democrats starting to question the current state of affairs in Jason Zengerle’s provocative piece for the New Republic, The Death of the Southern White Democrat Hurts African-Americans the Most and the current redistricting court case in Florida.

If African American lawmakers are elected from minority-majority districts, is there little to no incentive to reach beyond their districts’ constituents?

Do members elected from minority-majority seats even have a responsibility to reach past their districts’ constituents?

Do African American lawmakers – who now outnumber white lawmakers in the State House – find themselves increasingly isolated?

Do White, Christian Democrats find themselves increasingly isolated?

Does this 20% (White, Christians) indicate the major weakness in Florida’s Democrats bench?

Do Democrats remember how to talk with white Christians? Do they care to?

Even with Florida’s changing Demographics

Have we created a complete segregation of the political system?

Is this a whole lot to do about nothing?

The biggest question of all:

Is the Democratic Party counting on the courts to do for them in the redistricting process what they know politically they can’t do themselves- move away from minority-majority districts?

DATA

Download csv file

Chamber Member District Religious Affiliation Race Sex official website Congress Hastings, Alcee 20 African Methodist Episcopal AA M http://alceehastings.house.gov/ FLSEN Joyner, Arthenia L. 19 African Methodist Episcopal AA F http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s19 Congress Brown, Corrine 5 Baptist AA F http://corrinebrown.house.gov/ FLHOUSE Williams, Alan B. 8 Baptist AA M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4437&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Jones, Mia 14 Baptist AA F http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4440&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Watson, Jr., Clovis 20 Baptist AA M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4541&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Bracy, Randolf 45 Baptist AA M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4548&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Pritchett, Sharon 82 Baptist AA F http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4561&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Lee, Jr., Larry 84 Baptist AA M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4576&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE DuBose, Bobby 94 Baptist AA M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4612&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Stafford, Cynthia A. 109 Baptist AA F http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4523&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE McGhee, Kionne L. 117 Baptist AA M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4555&LegislativeTermId=86 FLSEN Montford, Bill 3 Baptist White M http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s3 FLSEN Thompson, Geraldine F. "Geri" 12 Baptist AA F http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s12 FLSEN Smith, Christopher L. 31 Baptist AA M http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s31 Congress Murphy, Patrick 18 Catholic White M http://patrickmurphy.house.gov/ Congress Curbelo, Carlos 26 Catholic Hispanic M http://www.carloscurbelo.com/ FLHOUSE Rehwinkel Vasilinda, Michelle 9 Catholic White F http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4464&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Cruz, Janet 62 Catholic Hispanic F http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4477&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Dwight, Dudley 68 Catholic White M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4570&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Rodríguez, José Javier 112 Catholic Hispanic M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4563&LegislativeTermId=86 FLSEN Soto, Darren 14 Catholic White M http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s14 FLSEN Abruzzo, Joseph 25 Catholic White M http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s25 FLSEN Sachs, Maria Lorts 34 Catholic White F http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s34 FLHOUSE Murphy, Amanda 36 Christian White F http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4596&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Cortes, John 43 Christian Hispanic M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4605&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Narain, Edwin 61 Christian AA M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4608&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Rogers, Hazelle P. "Hazel" 95 Christian AA F http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4434&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Jones, Shevrin D. "Shev" 101 Christian AA M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4559&LegislativeTermId=86 Congress Graham, Gwen 2 Episcopal White F https://www.gwengraham.com/ Congress Wilson, Frederic 24 Episcopal AA F http://wilson.house.gov/ USSEN Nelson, Bill USSEN Episcopal White M http://www.billnelson.senate.gov/ FLHOUSE Torres, Jr., Victor Manuel "Vic" 48 Episcopal Hispanic M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4538&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Clarke-Reed, Gwyndolen "Gwyn" 92 Episcopal AA F http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4432&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Jenne, Evan 99 Episcopal White M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4365&LegislativeTermId=86 FLSEN Braynon, Oscar , II 36 Episcopal AA M http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s36 FLSEN Bullard, Dwight 39 Episcopal AA M http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s39 Congress Grayson, Alan 9 Jewish White M http://grayson.house.gov/ Congress Duetch, Ted 21 Jewish White M http://teddeutch.house.gov/ Congress Frankel, Lois 22 Jewish White F http://frankel.house.gov/ Congress Wasserman-Schultz, Debbie 23 Jewish White F http://wassermanschultz.house.gov/ FLHOUSE Rader, Kevin 81 Jewish White M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4431&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Pafford, Mark 86 Jewish White M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4435&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Berman, Lori 90 Jewish White F http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4517&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Slosberg, Irving "Irv" 91 Jewish White M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4232&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Moskowitz, Jared Evan 97 Jewish White M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4560&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Edwards, Katie 98 Jewish White F http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4566&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Geller, Joseph 100 Jewish White M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4614&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Stark, Richard 104 Jewish White M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4557&LegislativeTermId=86 FLSEN Ring, Jeremy 29 Jewish White M http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s29 FLSEN Sobel, Eleanor 33 Jewish White F http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s33 FLSEN Margolis, Gwen 35 Jewish White F http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s35 FLHOUSE Anton, Bruce 46 Methodist AA M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4269&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Jacobs, Kristin 96 Methodist White F http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4613&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Taylor, Dwayne L. 26 none listed AA M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4445&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Rouson, Darryl Ervin 70 none listed AA M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4428&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Kerner, Dave 87 none listed White M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4577&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Powell, Bobby 88 none listed AA M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4578&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Watson, Barbara 107 none listed AA F http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4532&LegislativeTermId=86 FLHOUSE Richardson, David 113 none listed White M http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4556&LegislativeTermId=86 FLSEN Gibson, Audrey 9 none listed AA F http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s9 FLSEN Clemens, Jeff 27 none listed White M http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s27 Congress Castor, Kathy 14 Presbyterian White F http://castor.house.gov/ FLHOUSE Campbell, Daphne 108 Seventh-Day Adventist AA F http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4522&LegislativeTermId=86

(Please direct any corrections to OzeanMedia)