Members of the Catholic Church have been active in the elections of the United States since the mid-19th century. The United States has never had religious parties (unlike much of the world, especially in Europe and Latin America). There has never been an American Catholic religious party, either local, state or national.
In 1776 Catholics comprised less than 1% of the population of the new nation, especially in Maryland. Growth was slow until the 1840s, when heavy immigration began from Germany and Ireland. After 1880 Catholics arrived from Italy, Poland and elsewhere in Catholic Europe. Migration from Mexico, Puerto Rico and Central America came in the 20th and 21st centuries. The membership is about 68 million members today. Catholic voters now comprise 25% to 27% of the national electorate. 85% of today's Catholics report their faith to be "somewhat" to "very important" to them.[1][2] From the mid-19th century down to 1964 Catholics were solidly Democratic, sometimes at the 80–90% level. From the 1930s to the 1950s Catholics formed a core part of the New Deal Coalition, with overlapping memberships in the church, labor unions, big city machines, and the working class, all of which promoted liberal policy positions in domestic affairs and anti-communism during the Cold War.
Since the election of the nation's first Catholic president in 1960, Catholics have split about 50–50 between the two major parties in national elections. Beginning with the decline of unions and big city machines, increased suburbanization and with upward mobility into the middle classes, Catholics have drifted away from liberalism of the Democratic Party and toward conservatism on economic issues (such as taxes). Since the end of the Cold War, their strong anti-Communism has faded in importance. On social issues the Catholic Church takes strong positions against abortion and same-sex marriage and has formed coalitions with Protestant evangelicals.[3]
Religious tensions were major issues in the presidential election of 1928 when the Democrats nominated Al Smith, a Catholic who was defeated, and in 1960 when the Democrats also nominated John F. Kennedy, a Catholic who was elected. For the next three elections, a Catholic was nominated for the vice presidency by one of the two major parties (Bill Miller in 1964, Ed Muskie in 1968, Tom Eagleton and then Sargent Shriver in 1972). Each one lost. Geraldine Ferraro continued the tradition in 1984, but she also lost. A Catholic at the top of the ticket, John Kerry, lost the 2004 election to incumbent George W. Bush, a Methodist, who may have[clarification needed] won the majority of Catholic vote.[4] The 2012 election was the first where both major party vice presidential candidates were Catholic, Joe Biden and Paul Ryan.
As of January 2023[update], there are 27 (out of 100) Catholics in the United States Senate, and 122 (out of 435) Catholics in the United States House of Representatives, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.[5] In 2008, Joe Biden became the first Catholic to be elected Vice President of the United States. His successor Mike Pence was raised as a Catholic but converted to evangelical Protestantism. In 2020, Biden was elected the second Catholic president of the United States. First Ladies (Jacqueline Kennedy and Melania Trump) have been professed Catholics.