Post-election storylines: Five religion angles as dust settles from Tuesday’s voting

By Bobby Ross Jr. | GetReligion

Good morning from blue America!

I mean, I guess Oklahoma — where I live — is still a red state. But my congressional district just flipped, electing a Democrat for the first time in 40 years in what The Oklahoman characterized as “a political upset for the history books” and FiveThirtyEight called “the biggest upset of the night” nationally.

BREAKING: In a political upset for the history books, Kendra Horn has broken a 44-year Republican hold on Oklahoma’s 5th congressional district, turning the Oklahoma City district blue for the first time since the mid-1970s. #OK05 https://t.co/RRtQEZgCLm

— Justin Wingerter (@JustinWingerter) November 7, 2018

(Neighboring Kansas turned a little blue, too, electing a Democratic governor.)

Religion angle? In advance of Tuesday’s midterms, we asked here at GetReligion if a post-Trump rise of the religious left was a real trend or wishful thinking.

Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District, which Democrat Kendra Horn won in a nail-biter, was one of the places where a group of progressive evangelicals called Vote Common Good brought its tour bus. The Oklahoman’s pre-election story noted:

If Horn, an Episcopalian and Democrat running for Congress, is to do what others claim cannot be done — namely, defeat Republican Rep. Steve Russell on Nov. 6 — she will need to make inroads with a voting bloc that has helped propel Russell’s political career: evangelicals.

What role did religious voters played in Horn’s upset win in one of the reddest of the red states? I haven’t seen reporting on that angle yet. No doubt, changing demographics in the Oklahoma City area played a role, as did the rural-urban divide, but perhaps suburban evangelical women turned off by Trump did, too? Stay tuned.

As we begin to digest Tuesday’s outcomes across the U.S., here are a handful of religion angles making headlines or likely to do so:

Read the full column.

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All of my GetReligion columns (November 2018):

• Emma Green’s ‘The Jews of Pittsburgh Bury Their Dead’ among the best religion stories of 2018. Published Nov. 1.

• Friday Five: Synagogue shooting, Messianic controversy, young evangelicals, Squirrel Hill memories. Published Nov. 2.

• Monday Mix: Failure at the top, heartbreaking ties, Sutherland Springs anniversary, black churches. Published Nov. 5.

• Post-election storylines: Five religion angles as dust settles from Tuesday’s voting. Published Nov. 7.

• Another day, another mass shooting in America — this time at a country music night in California. Published Nov. 8.

• Friday Five: California massacre, religious voters, Catholic bishops, tiny clay seals, blogger lawsuit. Published Nov. 9.

• Monday Mix: ‘SNL’ forgiveness, hate list scrutiny, abuse vote delay, grieving California, Pittsburgh guns. Published Nov. 12.

• Payday loans and churches: RNS delivers a fascinating trend piece with a familiar byline. Published Nov. 13.