Former President Donald Trump leads Vice President Kamala Harris by 5 percentage points among Catholic voters in seven battleground states, according to survey results released on Monday.
Trump garnered 50% support from swing-state Catholics, while Harris received 45%, according to a National Catholic Reporter (NCR) poll.
However, the poll results show that Harris leads Trump massively among Hispanics (almost 70%) and Black Catholics (more than 75%) in those battleground states.
Trump holds a commanding 16-point lead among white swing-state Catholic voters. He leads overall among Catholic voters in five of the seven states, although some are within the margin of error.
Trump is up by 18 percentage points among Catholic voters in Wisconsin, and by 12 points among Catholic voters in Michigan.
The seven battleground states widely expected to decide the Nov. 5 presidential election outcome include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
NCR reported that Harris’ advantage among Hispanic and Black Catholics “stems from a strong aversion to Trump as well as an alignment with the vice president on values and key social issues.”
With Catholic teaching generally favoring immigrant rights and against abortion, many swing-state Catholic voters were more likely to say they support their preferred candidate for reasons that go against the church’s stance.
The NCR survey results show that 58% percent of battleground Catholic voters say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Only 51% described themselves as “pro-life,” while 28% did not.
Last month, Pope Francis criticized Trump over his plan to deport millions of immigrants and Harris for supporting abortion rights. Francis said U.S. Catholics would have to “choose the lesser evil” when they vote in November, without elaborating.
Catholic voters make up a sizable population in the battleground states; almost a quarter of persons in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin identify as Catholic.
According to the NCR survey, economic factors inspire three out of every four Catholic voters in battleground states.
Other top issues among the respondents were immigration/the southern border (60%), healthcare (53%), taxes (52%), affordable housing (46%), fighting crime (42%), gun control/Second Amendment rights (41%), and abortion/reproductive rights (37%).
The NCR poll was conducted Oct. 3-8 among 1,172 Catholic voters overall in the seven swing states. It has a margin of error of 2.86%.
Battleground Catholic voters ages 45 and older chose Trump over Harris by 8 percentage points, while those 44 and younger were tied at 47% for each candidate. Voters ages 18-24 gave Harris a 7-point advantage.
