Jaci Velasquez, Evan Craft urge Hispanic Christians to 'vote in a way that most honors God'
Popular CCM artists Jaci Velasquez and Evan Craft are the latest Christian celebrities urging Christians to vote this November, asking members of the Hispanic Christian community, in particular, to cast their vote “in a way that most honors God.”
The two singers have joined My Faith Votes — a nonpartisan, faith-based organization that provides resources to help Christians “Pray, Think, and Act” — as spokespeople to encourage Hispanic Christians to vote in the upcoming elections.
“My husband and I have two amazing boys that are our pride and joy. We long to see a bright future for them and all of the children growing up in the U.S. today,” Velasquez, a Grammy-nominated artist, said. “We have opportunities each day to make a difference in that future, to honor God and to do good. This November we have the specific opportunity to vote. When we choose to vote in a way that most honors God, we can make a difference.”
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Craft, who creates music both in English and Spanish, said he joined My Faith Votes to “help Spanish-speaking Christians think about their faith and its role in the public square and realize that their votes matter.”
“One of my greatest joys is using my artistry to promote my ministry. For years I have had the blessing and privilege of ministering to Latin and Spanish communities through music,” Craft said. “Art placed in the hands of God has the capacity to change hearts and lives and the world through intentional engagement and loving our neighbors.”
According to the Pew Research Center, 77% of Hispanic Americans identify as Christian, while 48% identify as Catholic.
As of 2020, eligible Hispanic voter numbers will reach 32 million; yet in the last presidential election, the majority of Hispanic citizens did not vote. Hispanic voter turnout was 47.6% in 2016.
A recent survey from Claremont McKenna College found that while Joe Biden has a voting advantage over President Donald Trump, the latter’s support among the group has grown significantly since 2016.
The Latino Religions and Politics National Survey, released this week, found that 62% of registered Latino Christian voters said they would vote for Biden, compared to the 30% who would vote for Trump.
However, Trump’s favorability among Latino Christian voters has improved from 15% in 2016 to 32% in 2020.
According to the survey, the top three issues among Latino Christian voters were the economy, COVID-19 and “stopping racial violence.”
“Trump is gaining ground despite COVID-19 and building the border wall,” said Gaston Espinosa, the Arthur V. Stoughton professor and chair of Religious Studies at Claremont McKenna College.
CMC noted that Latinos are expected to play key roles in states like Florida, where there are more than two million registered Latino voters.
“Latinos will be among the largest groups of voters in key swing states in 2020, making this population key for Biden, especially in Florida,” Espinosa said. “The nation’s 18 million Latino Protestant and other Christian voters — which are much more likely than Catholics to possibly vote Republican — could also have a real impact on the election because many are undecided and have a history of swinging over and voting Republican, like they did (44%) for George W. Bush in 2004.”
Espinosa said that based on “Trump's favorability rating, the fact that conservatives underreport, and that a high percentage of independent and undecided voters nationwide are born-again Christians,” he may end up taking 31-34% of the U.S. Latino vote.
Other prominent Christian figures backing My Faith Votes include Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Phil Robertson, Tony Evans, and Kirk Cameron, among others.
“God does not want the American Church to go back to business as usual,” Cameron recently told The Christian Post. “Because I think the trajectory of America, based on the condition of the church, has been in a decline morally and spiritually and otherwise. And with 40 million registered Christian voters who don't even vote, think about that. We have 90 million registered Christian voters in America. Forty million of them didn't vote in the last presidential election and look at how close everything was. Every election is like that.”
He added, "When God's people are asleep, they're unaware, they're unconcerned and uninvolved in something as important as the future of our country. I think God needs to wake us up.”
