The interesting thing I notice is Catholics were left of the nation as a whole up until 2008. Since 2008 they have been to the right.
In Iowa, that has been true for sure, although white Catholics have leaned Left again this election. It is still very much true that Catholics still prefer to vote for Catholics, even if they’re baby killers.
Long-time Representative (and Catholic) Steve King had his closest election ever, and in more Catholic northeast Iowa, Leftist Catholic (and outspoken about it) Abby Finkenauer defeated incumbent Rod Blum, a Protestant.
Maybe in midterms....but if you look at the presidential results, you see the Roman Catholic vote has sided with the demoncrat candidate way more than Republican candidate.
Remember that most of the immigrants, both legal and illegal, from south of the border are Catholic. I'm guessing Americanized Catholics -- those whose families have been here a couple of generations or more -- lean Republican by a substantial margin. Those who got here the week before last, not so much. The other obvious crosstab would be Catholics who actually attend church vs. CINO's.
2012 Presidential voting D 49% R 48%
2018 midterm elections. D 50% R 49%