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UMNS# 04528-Sixty-one United Methodists will serve in 109th


From "NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>
Date Tue, 9 Nov 2004 16:47:44 -0600

Sixty-one United Methodists will serve in 109th Congress 

Nov. 9, 2004	 News media contact:   Tim  Tanton * (615) 7425470* 
Nashville {04528}

NOTE: For a list of the United Methodists who will serve in the new Congress,
see UMNS story #529.

A UMNS Feature
By Albert J. Menendez*

The number of United Methodists serving in the 109th Congress will remain at
61, unchanged from the 108th Congress. 

The United Methodist Church also remained in third place among all religious
groups represented in the Senate and House of Representatives.

The lawmakers will be working with an administration in which the president,
George Bush, and vice president, Dick Cheney, are United Methodist.

There are 13 United Methodists in the Senate and 48 in the House. Republicans
outnumber Democrats 38 to 23, again a repeat from the last election, even
though the three newly elected United Methodist House members are Democrats.
One longtime House member, Sam Hall of Texas, switched his party affiliation
from Democrat to Republican before the 2004 election. 

A pastor will join the United Methodist congressional contingent in the new
Congress. Emanuel Cleaver II, a Democrat, won a seat in Missouri's 5th
Congressional District, centered in Kansas City. Also elected in Missouri was
Democrat Russ Carnahan, son of the late Gov. Mel Carnahan and former U.S.
Sen. Jean Carnahan. Carnahan won the seat formerly held by Dick Gephardt. 
The third United Methodist among the House freshmen is Dan Boren, a Democrat
from Oklahoma and son of a former U.S. senator.  

In the Senate, United Methodist Republicans replaced United Methodist
Democrats in Georgia, where Johnny Isakson succeeded retiring Sen. Zell
Miller, and in North Carolina, where Richard Burr succeeded John Edwards, who
ran unsuccessfully for the vice presidency of the United States. Both Burr
and Isakson had served in the House before winning their Senate seats.

Texas contributed the largest number of congressional United Methodists, 10,
followed by five in Ohio, four from Florida and three from Nebraska. Thirty
states elected at least one United Methodist to Congress in this election
cycle, compared to 29 states last time.

Thirty-four United Methodists represent states in the South or Border South,
while 15 hail from the Midwest, eight from the Far West and Pacific Coast,
and four from the Northeast. 

In terms of strength within state delegations, United Methodists are
strongest in Nebraska, where three of five members belong to the
denomination, and in New Mexico, where two of five members are United
Methodists. A third of the members from Arkansas, Kansas and Wyoming are
United Methodists. Nearly a third - 30 percent - of the Texans in Congress
are United Methodists.	

United Methodists are in third place in Congressional membership, following
Roman Catholics in first place and Baptists in second. Presbyterians,
Episcopalians and Jews are in fourth, fifth and sixth places in the rankings,
as they were in the 108th Congress. Nondenominational Protestants, Lutherans,
Mormons and nondenominational Christians fill out the top 10 religious groups
represented in Congress. 

The new Congress will convene Jan. 16.

*Menendez is a freelance writer and director of research for Americans for
Religious Liberty.

News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
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http://umns.umc.org

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