Catholic voters, in particular those who attend mass weekly, have moved away for support for the Democrats in significant numbers. Anne Hendershott of The Catholic World Report summarizes the polling data:

In a shift that may have consequences for the 2014 elections—and beyond—the Pew Religion and Public Life Project reported late last month that Catholics are continuing to trend toward the Republican Party. Fifty-three percent of white Catholics now identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, while only 39 percent of them identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party. This is a significant shift from 2008, when Pew found that 41 percent of white, Catholic registered voters identified with or leaned toward the Republican Party, and in 2011, when 49 percent did. (snip)

While Republicans lost among Catholics in 2008 by 13 points, the Democratic advantage became a seven-point Republican advantage by the end of 2011. Republicans now hold a significant lead among Catholics in general. And many of these Catholics are more motivated than ever to get out to the polls. According to the September 2014 Pew study, 79 percent of all Catholic respondents revealed that they will “definitely vote” in the upcoming elections. This is up 11 percentage points from September 2010. In fact, Catholics are more motivated to vote than any other religious group except white Evangelicals, who also indicate strong support for the Republican Party. 

There is, however, one group of Catholics that is not supportive of the GOP:

Latinos—especially Catholic Latinos—still trend toward the Democratic Party. In the 2012 elections, Latino Catholics were much more supportive of President Obama than were Latino Evangelicals. In a telephone survey conducted in 2012, Latino registered voters supported Obama over Romney by more than three-to-one (69 percent vs 21 percent). The Pew Foundation concluded that “Hispanic Catholics who are registered to vote look very much like the Hispanic population overall, with nearly three-quarters supporting Obama (73 percent) and about one-in-five supporting Romney (19 percent).” In 2012, white non-Hispanic Catholics were much more evenly divided, with 47 percent in favor of Obama and 46 percent in favor of Romney in that same 2012 polling period.

Hispanic Evangelical Protestants are more narrowly divided, with half supporting Obama and about four-in-ten supporting Romney in 2012. The Pew Foundation found that in 2012 “about seven-in-ten Latino Catholic registered voters identify as Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party (71 percent).”

Is it any surprise that Democrats want to keep the Southern border open?

There is quite a bit more interesting detail in the article, inlduing a discussion of Soros funding of efforts to reverse this trend.

Hat tip: Karin McQuillan