It's rare for Democrats to make religion a centerpiece of their campaigns. But this midterm election cycle, a number of candidates for Congress are doing just that.
Page A2From§Eachthe coffee break edition — 27 September 2026
Party that kept Jesus out of its ads for decades now runs pastors asking whether he was woke
As it ran on the front
On August 31st three Democrats running for Congress — Marni Von Wilpert in California, Christina Hines in Michigan, Zach Dembo in Kentucky — sat on CBS's "The Takeout," said they were confident heading into the midterms, and argued about what the party should be. The House answered the next day. On September 1st it passed a nonbinding resolution condemning socialism and calling for passage of the SAVE America Act, 220 to 192, with eight Democrats voting yes and two declining to vote at all. That is one theory of what a Democrat runs on: sprint at the word the other side picked, and hope it sticks to somebody else in the caucus.
The competing theory was being priced in Texas the same week. On September 5th Republicans in Washington were, in print, stuck with their own Senate nominee. On September 9th Ken Paxton, still the state's attorney general, announced a settlement sending more than seven million free eggs to Texans, 1.7 million delivered and 5.3 million on the way, his name on the release. On September 14th the Senate Leadership Fund's Texas committee filed for $53.8 million into his campaign. On September 16th the Texas Farm Bureau endorsed him. Counting the battleground money moving alongside it, the wire's running total for what it calls the Paxton rescue mission had cleared $100 million by the end of last week — and The Hill's forecasters say the Democratic advantage in the polling has not moved for any of it.…
…(cont) On September 17th The Hill described what that money is aimed at: a seminarian. State Representative James Talarico says his faith is the reason he entered the race and argues that Christian doctrine affirms the progressive policies he supports, and the contest is now a public fight over what the paper called the state's political DNA. Nobody bought that position. It was free.
Which brings us to this morning, and to Kansas, where Adam Hamilton — a pastor, in a tight Senate race — is challenging party lines by asking out loud whether Jesus was woke. NPR counted the rest of them the same day: it is rare for Democrats to put religion at the center of a campaign, and this cycle a number of candidates for Congress are doing exactly that. This is not one preacher with a microphone. It is a slate, in Kansas and Texas and the House races, betting that the party's problem was never the socialism vote and never the consultants' rule about keeping the pulpit out of the ad buy.
One side is spending $100 million in Texas. The other is asking, in Kansas, whether Jesus was woke. Both are on the same ballot. Only one of them has to be paid for.
“For thirty years the consultants told these people that faith was the other team's property, and the result was a party that let a House floor vote define it, 220 to 192, eight of its own members raising a hand for a resolution that pushes a voting bill. Now a Kansas pastor and a Texas seminarian are doing for free what $53.8 million from one Texas committee could not buy Paxton — a reason to show up that isn't eggs. Watch who in the party tries to talk them out of it before November, and ask that person who pays their fee.”
“Faith isn't a talking point, it's a value — did I say talking point? That doesn't sound like me. Look, the Farm Bureau endorsed Ken Paxton, farmers know who feeds Texas, and seven million eggs went to Texans who needed them, which is a lot more Christian than a seminarian giving speeches. And if the polling hasn't moved after $100 million, that just tells you the polls are wrong, which, frankly, I've been saying since before the money showed up.”
Earlier in this story
- Fetterman won't rule out being the deciding vote for either party, months after starring in their convention ad. By Lou · the sunrise edition, 27 September 2026
- Republicans spend $100 million and 7 million eggs rescuing Paxton, get nothing back in the polls By Ruth · the sunrise edition, 27 September 2026
- Fetterman tapes endorsement for Republicans, refuses to say how he'd break a tied Democratic Senate. By Sal · the midnight edition, 27 September 2026
- Washington Examiner predicts the GOP 'dam' breaks after Election Day; five campaigns already broke before it By Sal · the matinee edition, 23 September 2026
- Fetterman taped a Republican convention video, fundraised off it on ActBlue, now fundraises on GOP donor lists. By Sal · the late evening edition, 21 September 2026
- Fetterman raises money off his Republican convention cameo, then snaps that he's not a Republican By Chip · the early evening edition, 15 September 2026
The receipts
Kansas pastor Adam Hamilton is challenging party lines in a tight Senate race.
· Democrats running for Congress in Kentucky, Michigan and California discuss their campaigns from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
· On the Ballot: Paxton, Talarico duel over Texas's 'political DNA' — Christianity from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Congressional votes expose rift in Democratic Party from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.