Clergy candidates and a 'love your neighbor' pitch helped Democrats flip Congress

A crop of clergy and other Democratic candidates campaigned on an unapologetically Christian message — love your neighbor — and their party flipped control of Congress, according to the Associated Press. The outcome puts the religious left squarely in the spotlight as a counter to evangelical support for President Donald Trump.

These candidates didn't hedge. They put scripture-adjacent language at the center of their pitch instead of treating faith as a subject to avoid, and AP credits that approach with helping Democrats take back the chamber.

White evangelical voters have long been one of Trump's most dependable blocs, and the religious right has spent decades as the loudest faith voice in American politics. AP's read on this cycle suggests the other side of the pews can organize and win too.

The takeaway for both parties is a map question: which voters are actually movable when the language of faith is on the ballot. Democrats now have a tested argument that the religious vote isn't a single package.

Expect the playbook to get studied hard as both parties sort out what just happened and what it means for the next round of races.