Press Coverage
Religion News Service – Evangelical pastor has a simple mission: Get Trump out
“I think the election of Donald Trump via the support of evangelicals in America is a leading indicator of the lack of effectiveness of the work I’ve been doing for the last 25 years. It’s like we build a retaining wall to hold the soil up, and the wall collapses, and...
Southwest Journal – Kingfield pastor rallies evangelicals to vote against Trump
We’re trying to help religious-motivated voters who want to change their habit actually change that habit. You need to create an alternative community people can be part of [and you need to] give them a very clear next action step to take.
The Washington Post – Voters of faith are watching the president’s behavior very closely
President Trump used his platform at the National Prayer Breakfast — an event intended to foster national unity around common values — to launch a tirade against Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)
TIME – I Questioned the Sincerity of Donald Trump’s Pro-Life Stance. The Response From My Fellow Evangelicals Was Troubling
When I published an op-ed declaring that, as a Republican and an evangelical pastor, I cannot vote for Donald Trump in 2020, I knew it would not be well-received by his supporters. What I did not expect was the fierceness of the response.
Michigan Live – Progressive evangelical group tries to convert Michigan Trump voters
“We’re kind of saying ‘treat to the Democratic Party like a hotel on a trip. You don’t have to live there but you just stay there overnight. It’s trying to change the frame a little bit and basically say ‘look, if you don’t feel at home in this Republican Party...
Holland Sentinal – Vote Common Good rally encourages evangelicals to drop support for Trump
We’re trying to encourage what we think is a moveable percentage of 2016 Trump supporters. We think 5 percent, maybe 15 percent of those voters around the country, are really rethinking their commitment to voting for Donald Trump.
Newsweek – I’m an Iowa Evangelical and a Registered Republican—and I Won’t Vote for Trump Again
The following is an op-ed in Newsweek by Sandy Orth. She attended our Faith, Politics, and the Common Good Summit in Des Moines this January: I voted for President Donald Trump in 2016. I thought he would shake up Washington and help fix the system that so many of us...
TIME – I’m a Pastor Who Ran for Congress as a Republican. Here’s Why I’m Encouraging My Fellow Evangelicals Not to Vote for Donald Trump
Trump is an anathema to everything I was taught to love about Jesus, everything I was taught about how to live out my faith. His disdain for decency, disrespect toward basic tenets of right and wrong and complete disregard for the most vulnerable among us could not be more fundamentally un-Christian.
The Hill – Advocacy group launches tour to encourage religious voters to vote against Trump
“We’re essentially traveling the country, trying to engage and energize religiously motivated voters to oppose the Trump administration by using the common good as their voting criteria for a vote.” —Robb Ryerse, Political Director for Vote Common Good, in “Advocacy...
Las Cruces Sun News – Faith leaders gather at the ICE Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral
Meah Pace sings for a gathering of faith leaders and community members outside the ICE Otero County Processing Center in protest of prisoner treatment in Chaparral on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. —From “Faith leaders gather at the ICE Otero County Processing Center in...
National Catholic Reporter – Can Catholics and evangelicals sway politics as the ‘religious left’?
The Vote Common Good summit in Des Moines, Iowa, kicked off a 50-state bus tour, as the organization tries to bring progressive Catholics and evangelicals together to stop the reelection of Donald Trump. (NCR photo/Heidi Schlumpf) “Our goal is to reach moderate,...
The Salt Lake Tribune – Utah progressive groups call for fair Senate impeachment trial during rally
It seems as if the moral spine of Congress has deteriorated to the point where they can no longer stand up straight
Deseret News – Organizations call on Utah senators to ensure ‘full and fair’ impeachment trial
Samir Selmanovic, with Vote Common Good, waves an American flag as he and others rally at the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, for a full and fair impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. (Steve Griffin, Deseret...
KSL News – Organizations call on Utah senators to ensure fair impeachment trial
In the tradition of democracy in the United States, truth and justice is bedrock. So whether you call for truth from your faith tradition or call for truth from your commitment to this country, the truth needs to be pursued. We believe that the truth can only be pursued in a full and fair trial.
FOX13 – Utahns call for ‘full and fair’ trial of President Donald Trump
This feels like a day where the senate is going to need to get it right and I am not sure they are going to.
ABC4 – Faith-based and social justice groups rally for fair impeachment trial
Care for the poor, the hungry. Welcome the stranger. We’re asking people to look at that when they vote and look at those issues when they vote.
Religion News Service – Faith in Action gears up for 2020 election season, with a focus on local offices
Oftentimes, when we go into a state or a city, we will tie into that (Faith in Action) network. It’s a great gift.
Morning Consult – Why This Evangelical Pastor Will Spend 2020 on the Road
The following is an op-ed in Morning Consult by Doug Pagitt, executive director of Vote Common Good: Over the course of this year, thousands of people around the country – voters, volunteers and donors – will dedicate their time and money to help shape the outcome of...
Colorado Politics – Religion voters to rally against Trump in Denver on Tuesday evening
Trump’s misguided approach to ‘America First’ has caused many voters of faith to rethink their support for him. If just 5% of faith voters move away from Trump, he doesn’t stand a chance in 2020.
National Catholic Reporter – It’s time to change the abortion debate in America
The current framing of the debate is wounding our nation and may in fact become our undoing, dividing us so deeply that in seeking to win elections, we lose our nation’s soul.
Religion News Service – As Iowa caucus nears, candidates ramp up God-talk
Signs suggest the God-talk is unlikely to let up as candidates enter the final stretch before the Iowa caucus on Feb. 3. At least five presidential hopefuls — New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, former congressman John Delaney, spiritual author Marianne Williamson, independent Candidate Mark Charles and Republican candidate Bill Weld — are slated to speak at the Vote Common Good forum hosted in Des Moines Jan. 9-11, which is facilitated by a group of religious progressives.
The Hill – Evangelicals are no longer a sure a bet for Trump
There are many reasons why people have lost their faith in Donald Trump. We are not telling people to stop being Republicans; we are asking Republicans to not vote for this one. We are not trying to turn everyone into a Democrat. We are asking people to consider voting for one this time.
Tampa Bay Spectrum News – Florida Faith Leaders Call Out President Trump for “Failed Promises”
We have recognized that voters all across the country and especially in Florida are really shaken by the fact that they have a commitment to certain issues. For many of them, they are issues that have aligned with the Republican Party, but they also recognize the behavior and the policies of the Trump administration no longer allow them to maintain their affiliation with their faith, and with this administration.
The Guardian – Trump defends killing of Suleimani
It is Trump’s desperate response to the realization that he’s losing his primary voting bloc, faith voters. He realizes he needs every last vote if he wants a shot at re-election [and] losing even five per cent ends his chances.
The Washington Post – As 2020 dawns, Trump looks to boost evangelical support
Friday’s rally is Trump’s desperate response to the realization that he is losing his primary voting bloc — faith voters.
TPM – The Evangelical War Over Impeachment Has Been A Long Time Coming
“You know you’re in trouble when your argument now is, ‘I don’t have all the evangelicals. We just have some and some are breaking off.”
Newsweek – This Christmas, the Christianity Today Article Was a Ray of Light
The courage Christianity Today’s editors demonstrated now invites an even more powerful expression of courage: courage among faithful Evangelical church members all around the country to speak out.
MSNBC – Evangelical Magazine Calls for Trump’s Removal
I think there is a just a critical mass of evidence that this is a morally bankrupt person.
Los Angeles Times – How a Christian college hurt itself by expelling a married gay student
Some Christian communities in America practice prejudice like dogma. It’s an ugly and reprehensible reality, but also one that is uniquely frustrating for progressive Christians like myself.
The New Yorker Radio Hour – A Progressive Evangelical on Voting for Democrats
“Conservative Christians—they want to stand with Jesus—and so do progressive Christians, and this is the good news of all this. It means we have to stand with each other as well. So the question then becomes, not only how we talk to ourselves about the Jesus, but how do we talk to each other.”
WNYC – What Did Democrats Get Wrong About Religious Voters in 2016?
“Voters don’t need you to be like them for them to vote for you, but voters do want you to like them if you’re going to ask them to vote for you.”
Australian Broadcasting Corporation – Teaching the Left to talk to evangelicals
“What we want is for religious voters to know that Democratic candidates take them seriously and that they want to ask for their vote, and they want to listen to their ideas, and they want religious voters to be included in the Democratic party.”
CNN – Pastor’s Mission to Teach Democrats How to Court Evangelicals
“If Democrats would reach out to speak with and spend time talking with Evangelical voters, we’re confident a significant percentage of them would think about voting for Democrats.”
The Advocate – Progressive Christians Promote Love, Inclusion at Values Voter Summit
“But Vote Common Good will be represented at the Values Voter Summit to show there’s an alternative path for religious believers, including evangelical Christians—they don’t have to be part of the Christian right.”
Democrats need look no farther than Ohio to understand why a woman can win in 2020: Katie Paris
Cleveland.com
October 13, 2019
Katie Paris is on the Vote Common Good Training Staff
Liberal pastors optimistic Democrats can rebound with faith voters after lackluster display in 2016
Washington Examiner
September 8, 2019
Midlands Voices: Why being anti-abortion and pro-choice isn’t a contradiction
Omaha World-Herald
November 15, 2018
The GOP can’t rely on white evangelicals forever
Vox
November 7, 2018
Here’s how abortion rights played out in midterm elections across the country
The Washington Post
November 7, 2018
Bus tour urges Bakersfield residents to ‘vote common good’
Bakersfield Californian
November 2, 2018
Evangelical Leaders Hit The Road For The Common Good
The Mac Weekly
November 1, 2018
Evangelicals Urge Las Cruces Christians to Flip Congress Blue for the ‘Common Good’
KRWG Public Radio
November 1, 2018
‘I’m not anti-Trump, I’m just pro-Jesus’: the evangelicals stumping for the Democrats
The Guardian
October 31, 2018
Evangelical Christian group holds rally to support Ammar Campa-Najjar
Fox 5 San Diego
October 27, 2018
‘Our faith compels us’: Christian resistance to Trump gathers steam
The Guardian
October 26, 2018
Christian Organization Sets Out to Reclaim Evangelical Voters from Trump
Alternet
October 26, 2018
Evangelists preaching the ‘gospel of Trump’ are being pilloried for their ‘toxic Christianity’ by their fellow pastors
RawStory
October 26, 2018
A House Divided: Progressive Christian Leaders are Speaking Up in the Age of Trump
San Antonio Current
October 26, 2018
Finding ‘Common Good’ Among Evangelicals In The Political Season
NPR
October 25, 2018
Pastor Turns on Christian Right for Losing its Moral Core in Support of Trump
Newsweek
October 21, 2018
Evangelicals are paying high moral price for anti-abortion gains. What would Jesus do?
USA Today
October 21, 2018
San Antonio Event Aims to Energize Religious Progressives for the Midterms
San Antonio Current
October 19, 2018
Progressive Evangelicals: Why A Pastor Is Asking Texas Christians To Vote Blue
KERA News
October 19, 2018
Evangelical tells C-SPAN that Trump is losing his grasp on Christians — and women are driving the split
Raw Story
October 16, 2018
“Vote Common Good” group stops in Siouxland
KTIV 4
October 12, 2018
Religious left? Faith groups get involved in politics
MPRnews
October 12, 2018
“Vote Common Good” rally comes to town
Sioux City ABC News
October 11, 2018
Inspired by nuns, evangelicals hop on the bus
Religion News Service
October 9, 2018
Evangelical Christians Against Trump are Trying to ‘Flip Congress’ with Bus Tour Ahead of Midterm Elections
Newsweek
October 9, 2018
Evangelicals hoping ‘Vote Common Good’ convinces others to join them
West Virginia MetroNews
October 9, 2018
Anti-Trump Evangelicals Are On A Nationwide Bus Tour To Flip Congress
Huffpost
October 8, 2018
Bill White: Why evangelical Vote Common Good movement is worth some attention
The Morning Call
October 8, 2018
Christian Group Launches Nationwide ‘Revival’ Tour to Oppose Republicans in Midterms
The Christian Post
October 7, 2018
The Republican Party no longer represents Christians: Readers sound off
USA Today
October 7, 2018
New group rallies in Greensboro, encourages voting for ‘common good’
News & Record
October 6, 2018
Progressive evangelicals make a pitch to flip Congress at local event
Lancaster Online
October 4, 2018
Bucking their brethren, Evangelical group brings message to Lehigh Valley: Vote Democratic to flip U.S. House
The Morning Call
October 3, 2018
Evangelical Groups Spending Millions to Drive Social Conservative Turnout for 2018 Midterms
The Christian Post
September 29, 2018
An Evangelical’s Plea: Oppose Kavanaugh
The New York Times
September 21, 2018
Democrats (Wistfully) Take Aim at a Republican Stronghold: Evangelicals
The New York Times
September 14, 2018