Top photo caption: A person walks in front of a polling station in Harrison, N.J., Oct. 24, 2026, the first day of early voting in New Jersey. OSV News photo/Eduardo Munoz, Reuters
By Kate Scanlon, OSV News
WASHINGTON OSV News – Undecided Catholic voters are a swing voting bloc, but reliably show up to the polls, a new report found.
The report, conducted by Untold Research on behalf of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby, found “Catholics are swing voters in the truest sense of the term.” It found that just 4% of respondents who described themselves as Catholics and as undecided, uncommitted voters in this election cycle did not vote at all in the past three presidential elections.
Laurie Carafone, Network’s executive director, told OSV News the group commissioned the report because many voters, including Catholic voters, remain undecided close to the election and the organization wanted insight into what motivates them.
The report, released Oct. 28, filtered focus-group participants for those who identified as Catholics and said they were undecided in the upcoming elections. Most respondents resided in Michigan, a battleground state with a key Senate race ranked as a toss-up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Catholics are a reliable voting bloc in terms of casting a ballot, the Network report found, but “what they offer in terms of dependability to show up at the polls, they lack in predictability for whom they will pull the lever.”
Nearly three-quarters of respondents said they have voted for both former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump, and majorities of the group supported both presidents despite their different policy priorities and approaches.
Carafone said the data showing these voters crossing party lines over the past two decades indicates they are open to solutions from both parties.
A recent Pew Research Center survey found that among all Catholics, 42% said they would vote for the Democrat in their House district, 39% said the Republican, and 19% were unsure or would select another party’s candidate.
Among white Catholics, 50% said they would support the Republican candidate, 32% the Democrat and 18% were unsure. Among Hispanic Catholics, 59% said they would support the Democrat, 19% the Republican and 21% were unsure.
Polls of the general public have consistently found voters in the 2026 midterm elections are most motivated by economic or cost-of-living issues. The Network report found 80% of undecided Catholic voters described economic issues as influential, followed by health care at 78% and issues affecting older adults at 77%.
Carafone said the surveyed voters care deeply about issues at the heart of Catholic social teaching, including feeding families, caring for loved ones and securing decent jobs with fair wages.
Undecided and uncommitted Catholic voters who attend Mass more frequently stand out from others in the survey group, she said.
The report found that group decides whom to vote for later, reports stronger religious influence on its views, places greater weight on family and children’s issues, leans more Republican and names immigration and race as important issues.
The midterm elections are scheduled for Nov. 3. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued an Oct. 14 statement reminding the faithful that participation in public life, including voting, is both a right and a responsibility.
Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
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