NEW LONDON, Wis. — Once it was clear that an evangelical Christian such as Ben Carson or Ted Cruz was not going to be the Republican nominee in 2016, Linda Behm prayed.

Behm is evangelical, too, with curly gray hair and a calendar filled with volunteer shifts at a thrift store and a food pantry in this small community an hour away from Green Bay. She wasn’t sure about supporting Donald J. Trump, the New York business magnate with a penchant for insults and crude behavior.