November 9, 2004
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.

The 109th Congress will have some new United Methodist faces, but the same number of members from the denomination as the previous Congress. Here is a list of United Methodists in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Senate (13)

Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama), Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia), Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Richard Lugar (R-Indiana), Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan), Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska), Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York), Richard Burr (R-North Carolina), Elizabeth Dole (R-North Carolina), and Craig Thomas (R-Wyoming).

House of Representatives (48)

Robert Cramer (D-Alabama), Jim Kolbe (R-Arizona), Marion Berry (D-Arkansas), Mike Ross (D-Arkansas), Robert Matsui (D-California), Allen Boyd (D-Florida), Ric Keller (R-Florida), Jeff Miller (R-Florida), Bill Young (R-Florida), Charlie Norwood (R-Georgia), Steve Buyer (R-Indiana), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), Edward Whitfield (R-Kentucky), Jim McCrery (R-Louisiana), Richard Baker (R-Louisiana), Wayne Gilchrest (R-Maryland), C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Maryland), Mike Rogers (R-Michigan), John Kline (R-Minnesota), Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), Russ Carnahan (D-Missouri), Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Missouri).

Lee Terry (R-Nebraska), Tom Osborne (R-Nebraska), James Saxton (R-New Jersey), Heather Wilson (R-New Mexico), Paul Gilmor (R-Ohio), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Ted Strickland (D-Ohio), David Hobson (R-Ohio), Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio), Dan Boren (D-Oklahoma), Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), John Peterson (R-Pennsylvania), Donald L. Sherwood (R-Pennsylvania), Bart Gordon (D-Tennessee), Sam Johnson (R-Texas), Ralph Hall (R-Texas), Joe Barton (R-Texas), Pete Sessions (R-Texas), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Chet Edwards (D-Texas), Kay Granger (R-Texas), Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas), Gene Green (D-Texas), John Culberson (R-Texas), Rick Boucher (D-Virginia), Rick Larsen (D-Washington).

This compilation is based on 533 members of Congress. A runoff will be held in Louisiana's 3rd and 7th Congressional Districts on Dec. 4. The tabulation is based on the religious affiliations reported by Congressional staffs to Congressional Quarterly and to the Almanac of American Politics. The affiliations of the newly elected members of the 109th Congress appeared in CQ's Guide to the New Congress issued on Nov. 4. They were compiled for this list by the reporter.

United Methodist News Service
Albert J. Menendez is a freelance writer and director of research for Americans for Religious Liberty.