Faith on the Hill: The religious composition of the 117th Congress

When it comes to religious affiliation, the 117th U.S. Congress looks similar to the previous Congress, but quite different from Americans overall. While about a quarter of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated, just one member of the new Congress identifies that way. And nearly nine-in-ten members of Congress identify as Christian, compared with two-thirds of the general public.

Slim majorities have become more common in the U.S. Senate and House

Democrats’ narrow partisan advantages in the 117th Congress are part of a long-running trend: In both legislative bodies, slim majorities have become more common in recent decades. In fact, the new Congress is one of only two in the last six decades in which Democrats and Republicans have the same number of Senate seats as the term gets underway.

Once again, nearly all Senate elections reflect states’ presidential votes

After victories by Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff this week, 34 of this election cycle’s 35 Senate races were won by candidates of the same party that carried the state in the presidential contest. The vast majority of the regular and special Senate elections held since 2012 – 156 of 174 – have been won by candidates who belonged to or were aligned with the party that won that state’s most recent presidential race.

The changing Georgia electorate

Once a reliably Republican state, Georgia surprised many observers by voting for a Democratic presidential candidate and two Democratic senators in the 2020-21 election cycle. The results come amid broader demographic changes in the state, both in the state’s eligible voter population and among those who are registered to vote.

What Biden and Trump supporters tell us in their own words about America’s political divisions

For years, our surveys have provided considerable evidence of just how politically divided the nation is. So in a survey conducted after the November election, we asked an open-ended question: Tell us something – anything – you’d like the supporters of the opposing presidential candidate to know to understand you a little better. The responses underscore the deep animosity that many Biden and Trump voters feel toward each other, but also the hopes that some have for greater political unity in the country.

• Interactive: Explore the responses
• 2020 election reveals two broad voting coalitions fundamentally at odds

America is exceptional in the nature of its political divide

The U.S. is hardly the only country wrestling with deepening political fissures, but recent events have revealed how pervasive the divide in American politics is relative to other nations.

From our research