From the Worldwide Faith News archives www.wfn.org
61 United Methodists in Congress
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Date
18 Nov 1996 21:54:55
"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3294 notes).
Note 3294 by UMNS on Nov. 18, 1996 at 14:45 Eastern (4991 characters).
SEARCH: Congress, Methodists, number
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.
Contact: Joretta Purdue 580(10-71B){3294}
Washington, D.C. (202) 546-8722 Nov. 18, 1996
New Congress to include
fewer United Methodists
by Albert J. Menendez*
WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- At least 59 United Methodists will be
members of the newly elected 105th U.S. Congress, a decrease of
four from the 63 in Congress for the past two years.
This is the smallest number of United Methodists in Congress
since modern records began to be compiled in the late 1940s.
In the Senate there are 13 United Methodists, a gain of two,
while the 46 United Methodist House members represent a loss of
six.
The United Methodist decline after this election may be due
more to retirements than to any other factor, since 11 members of
the freshman class are United Methodists, compared to eight
members of the freshman class of 1994. Three United Methodist
House members moved to the Senate as a result of the November
elections.
Geographically, the United Methodist contingent indicates
considerable regional diversity. The largest number, 10, comes
from Texas, followed by five from Georgia and four each from
California, Ohio and Indiana.
In terms of strength within state congressional delegations,
exactly half of the congressional members from Idaho and Arkansas
belong to the United Methodist Church, as do one-third of the
members from Louisiana, Indiana and Kansas. In Texas, 31 percent
of the delegation are United Methodists.
Twenty-three states sent at least one United Methodist to
Congress, while 27 states sent none. Nearly half -- 28 of the 59 -
- United Methodists hail from the 11 states of the Old
Confederacy.
There has been a shift toward the Republicans in the United
Methodist ranks. Republicans now hold a 36-23 majority compared to
35-28 in the 104th Congress.
Both senators from Idaho and Kansas are Republican and United
Methodist.
Republicans are more numerous among the United Methodist
members from Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New
Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Democrats predominate among United
Methodist representatives from California and Tennessee. The 10
United Methodists from Texas are evenly split between the two
political parties.
The 59-member United Methodist contingent remains third in
size, well behind Roman Catholics and Baptists.
Methodists were the largest religious group in Congress until
Roman Catholics moved into first place in 1964. United Methodists
remained in second place until 1980, when they placed third behind
Episcopalians. United Methodists regained second place in 1982 and
held that position until 1994, when Baptists held more seats.
Currently Presbyterians are the fourth largest religious
group in Congress, followed by Episcopalians and Jews.
# # #
* Menendez is the associate director of Americans for
Religious Liberty.
NOTE TO EDITORS: The following is a list of the United Methodists
in Congress. The list is alphabetical by state and includes the
designation of party.
Senate
Alabama: Jeff Sessions (R)
Arkansas: Dale Bumpers (D)
Georgia: Paul Coverdell (R) and Max Cleland (D)
Hawaii: Daniel Inouye (D)
Idaho: Dirk Kempthorne (R) and Larry Craig (R)
Indiana: Richard Lugar (R)
Kansas: Pat Roberts (R) and Sam Brownback (R)
New Jersey: Robert Torricelli (D)
New Mexico: Jeff Bingaman (D)
Wyoming: Craig Thomas (R)
House of Representatives
Alabama: Robert Cramer (D)
Arizona: Jim Kolbe (R)
Arkansas: Marion Berry (D) and Jay Dickey (R)
California: Robert Matsui (D), Calvin Dooley (D), Jay Kim (R)
and George Brown (D)
Florida: Allen Boyd (D) and Bill Young (R)
Georgia: Mac Collins (R), Bob Barr (R) and Charlie Norwood
(R)
Illinois: Harris Fawell (R) and Thomas Ewing (R)
Indiana: Steve Buyer (R), Ed Pease (R) and Lee Hamilton (D)
Louisiana: Jim McCrery (R), John Cooksey (R) and Richard
Baker (R)
Maryland: Wayne Gilchrest (R) and Robert Ehrlich (R)
Michigan: Deborah Ann Stabenow (D)
Mississippi: Bennie Thompson (D)
New Jersey: James Saxton (R) and Bob Franks (R)
Ohio: Rob Portman (R), Ted Strickland (D), David Hobson (R)
and Steven LaTourette (R)
Pennsylvania: John Peterson (R) and Bill Goodling (R)
Tennessee: Bob Clement (D) and Bart Gordon (D)
Texas: Sam Johnson (R), Ralph Hall (D), Joe Barton (R), Pete
Sessions (R), Lloyd Doggett (D), Chet Edwards (D), Kay Granger
(R), Larry Combest (R), Solomon Ortiz (D) and Gene Green (D)
Virginia: Rick Boucher (D)
###
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