For more than 50 years, voters of faith have aligned strongly with the Republican Party. In the last election, white evangelical Christians accounted for almost 1 in 4 voters, and they backed Donald Trump by an astounding 82% to 17%, according to exit polls. Voters with no religious ties, also about one-fourth of the electorate, supported Kamala Harris 71% to 27%.

This year, that vast imbalance is starting to shift. A small but vocal number of Democratic candidates for the House and Senate are emphasizing their religious origins and values. Often, they cite scripture to explain their embrace of liberal doctrine.

A typical campaign argument is voiced by Sarah Trone Garriott, a Lutheran minister and state legislator who is challenging the incumbent Republican, Zach Nunn, in Iowa’s third district.

“Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan,” she preaches. “Everyone is your neighbor. Anyone who is overlooked and left behind and forgotten — that’s who you are called to help, and that is the calling of government.”

“When you say that a candidate is religious, most voters then assume that they’re Republican, that they’re pretty conservative,” David Campbell, a political science professor........

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