Undecided Evangelical Voters in Iowa Turn to Faith
Pastor Kerry Jech of the New Hope Christian Church in Marshalltown, Iowa, is turning to prayer to decide his vote in the 2012 elections.
After the premiere of an anti-abortion film co-produced by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee last week, Jech told ABC News, “I’m just really confused, I just don’t know at this point who is the best one to support and I’m not sure what’s going to push us one direction or the other.”
Since the Iowa caucus will take place on Jan. 3, 2012, Jech told the news station he was turning to the “Holy Spirit” for direction.
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Four Republican candidates, including Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry all spoke to the crowd before the film’s premiere.
Pastor Jech told ABC he will be selecting a candidate from the four nominees that attended the forum, but he and his wife Jane, who is currently running for State Senate, may still be undecided by Jan. 3.
“I’m just going to rely upon the Lord to do that, to work that out. Put it in his hands and say, ‘You know what? Somebody is going to have to drop out and throw their support to another individual or you’re going to have to raise up an individual,’ I don’t know that I personally am going to try and actively do that,” said Jech. “If the caucus were held tonight, man, it would be tough for me to go in there and say, ‘Who am I going for? Who am I going to support?’”
Mike Chickadee, who also attended the forum, has complete confidence in Iowa’s evangelical voters.
“I’m not worried that among the Republican candidates that any of them are going to betray the core issues that matter to conservatives,” Huckabee told ABC after the film premiere. “When people start fighting amongst themselves as candidates who’s the most conservative, I’m thinking all of them are conservative. Look at that field up there compared to Obama, they are very conservative.”
The Iowa Evangelical community is a significant one for presidential elections. According to ABC News Pollster Gary Langer, 60 percent of GOP voters who attend the caucus considered themselves to be evangelicals in 2008. That 60 percent helped Huckabee defeat former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in Iowa that year.
Huckabee also said he doesn’t believe evangelical voters’ are dissatisfied and their indecision is due to the current republican candidates having each “brought qualities to the race.”
“Faith should guide who we select to lead us,” Pastor Jech told The Christian Post. “I’m much closer I think today to making a decision. Hopefully this week I should have my decision.”
Pastor Jech added that he would be making a public announcement soon stating the candidate he has selected, but that his opinion “does not reflect that of the entire congregation.”
