United Methodists fill 61 seats in new Congress

By Albert J. Menendez*

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - Sixty-one United Methodists will serve in the 110th Congress - approximately the same number as were elected in the 108th and 109th Congresses. The denomination also remained in third place among all religious groups.

The number of United Methodists in Congress will be the same as in the 108th session and one less than in the 109th session. Some partisan reshuffling has occurred, resulting in a net gain of four Democrats. In fact, all five newly elected United Methodists in the House of Representatives are Democrats. They are Tim Mahoney of Florida's 16th Congressional District (the seat vacated by Mark Foley); Dave Loebsack of Iowa's 2nd District; Nancy Boyda of the 2nd District of Kansas; and Betty Sutton of Ohio's 13th Congressional District.

CQ's Guide to the New Congress also lists Baron P. Hill, of Indiana's 9th District, as a United Methodist. In his former years in Congress, Hill was a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

There are 34 Republicans and 27 Democrats in the Methodist membership in the House of Representatives.

There were no changes in the 13 United Methodists serving in the U.S. Senate, where they are second in number to Catholics.

Missing from the 110th Congress will be Jim Kolbe of Arizona, who retired; Tom Osborne of Nebraska, who ran unsuccessfully for governor; Ted Strickland of Ohio, an ordained United Methodist minister, who was elected governor of the Buckeye State; and Donald Sherwood of Pennsylvania, who was defeated in November. (Rob Portman of Ohio resigned from Congress before the 2006 election; President Bush appointed him U.S. trade representative in 2005.)

With 10 members, Texas has the largest number of United Methodists in Congress (with a runoff election set for one of the state's districts Dec. 12), followed by five in Florida, four from Ohio, and three from Indiana and Kansas. Thirty states elected at least one United Methodist to Congress in 2006, the same as in 2004.

Thirty-five United Methodists represent states in the South or Border South, while 16 hail from the Midwest, seven from the Rocky Mountain West and the Pacific Coast, and three from the Mid-Atlantic states. There are no United Methodist members from New England.

In terms of strength within state delegations, the denomination is strongest in Kansas, where three of six members belong to The United Methodist Church. Two of five members in Nebraska and New Mexico are United Methodists. A third of the members from Arkansas and Wyoming are also United Methodists. Nearly a third - 30 percent - of the Texans in Congress are United Methodists.

United Methodists rank third in total Congressional membership, following Roman Catholics in first place and Baptists in second. Presbyterians, Jews and Episcopalians are in fourth, fifth and sixth places. Nondenominational Protestants, Lutherans, Mormons and nondenominational Christians complete the top 10 religious groups represented in Congress.

In addition, President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are United Methodists.

After the recent elections, the United Methodist Church also has six members who are or will be serving as state governors. They are Janet Napolitano, Democrat, Arizona; Ruth Ann Minner, Democrat, Delaware; Charlie Crist, Republican, Florida; David Heinemann, Republican, Nebraska; Ted Strickland, Democrat, Ohio; and Rick Perry, Republican, Texas.

*Menendez is a freelance writer and director of research for Americans for Religious Liberty.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This tabulation is based on the religious affiliations reported by Congressional staffs to Congressional Quarterly and to the Almanac of American Politics. The affiliations of the newly elected members of the 110th Congress appeared in CQ's Guide to the New Congress, issued Nov. 9. They have been compiled by Albert J. Menendez. The tabulation does not reflect the outcome of a Dec. 12 runoff for the 23rd Congressional District in Texas. Information on the governors' religious affiliations comes from CNN and from The Almanac of American Politics.