Evangelical Christians make up a great deal of the Republican Party’s rank-and-file, but a new poll illustrates just how much power evangelicals wield in at least one state. According to a new poll released by McLaughlin & Associates, evangelical Christians make up 72.8 percent of likely GOP primary voters in Alabama – nearly three-out-of-four Republicans who will vote to choose the party’s presidential nominee. That means that evangelicals in Alabama don’t have to throw their lot in with other factions of the Republican Party. If they want to, they can choose the primary winner outright – as long as they vote their values first. Alabama will play a greater role in the upcoming campaign than it has in previous elections. It has joined Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia to hold the “SEC primary” on March 1. (Non-Southern states will hold a primary that day, as well.) The evangelical choice in Alabama is clear: Mike Huckabee leads handily, according to the poll, which consulted 500 Republican primary voters and was published by Yellowhammer News. The results were: Mike Huckabee — 19 percent Ben Carson — 15 percent Undecided — 14.6 percent Jeb Bush — 13.4 percent Scott Walker — 8.4 percent Marco Rubio — 8 percent Rand Paul — 6.6 percent Ted Cruz — 5.6 percent Chris Christie — 2.2 percent Rick Perry — 1.8 percent Rick Santorum — 1.8 percent Carly Fiorina — 1.8 percent John Kasich — 1 percent Bobby Jindal — 0.8 percent If nothing else, this proves the death of evangelical political power is greatly exaggerated.
