Geography of Christian Nationalism in the United States
Geography of Christian Nationalism in the United States
Christian nationalism is found throughout the United States, but its level of popular support, political organization, and institutional influence varies substantially from state to state and region to region. National surveys and state-level studies show a pronounced geographic pattern, with some of the highest levels of support in the South, Appalachia, Great Plains, and portions of the Mountain West and some of the lowest levels in the Northeast and along the Pacific Coast.
The geography is not simply a division between Republican and Democratic states or between the South and the rest of the country. Strongly Republican states vary significantly from one another, as do presidential battleground states. Political influence can also exceed measured popular support in particular states, while organized opposition to Christian nationalism has developed in both high-support and low-support regions.
Research further suggests that Christian nationalism spreads geographically not only through public opinion but through state legislatures, school systems, churches, political organizations, donor networks, and coordinated campaigns promoting similar legislation across multiple states.
National Geographic Pattern
Recent 50-state surveys provide the clearest picture of the distribution of Christian nationalism in the United States. PRRI's 2025 American Values Atlas, based on more than 22,000 interviews, found very large differences among states in the percentage of residents categorized as Christian nationalism Adherents or Sympathizers.
Arkansas had the highest combined level of support at approximately 54%, followed by other high-support states including Mississippi, West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Massachusetts had approximately 15% support, with Washington, New York, New Jersey, and California also among the states with the lowest levels.
Earlier nationwide mapping described a geographic "horseshoe" extending through portions of the upper Midwest, Deep South, and Appalachia. Subsequent data show that this pattern remains important but is more complicated than a simple Southern concentration.
The state-level geography corresponds partly with differences in party affiliation, religious attendance, race, education, urbanization, and the proportion of Republican representation in state government. Christian nationalism also has a strong relationship with support for Donald Trump and Republican electoral strength, although neither relationship is uniform across every state.
The South and Bible Belt
The South contains many of the strongest concentrations of Christian nationalist sentiment in the country. Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and other Southern or Upper South states repeatedly appear near the upper end of state rankings.
Arkansas stands out in the most recent data, with approximately 54% of residents falling into the Adherent or Sympathizer categories. Among white Arkansans, support is even higher. Mississippi similarly has a majority or near-majority of residents in supportive categories.
The regional pattern extends beyond public opinion. Southern states have become major locations for legislative and educational policies associated with Christian nationalist ideas, particularly concerning religion in public schools, church-state separation, biblical instruction, and the display of religious texts.
Louisiana's law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public-school classrooms became one of the most prominent examples. Litigation challenging the requirement has made Louisiana a major contemporary battleground over government endorsement of religion.
Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and other Southern states show significant Christian nationalist constituencies but also considerable internal variation and organized religious opposition.
Appalachia and the Upper South
Appalachia forms another major concentration. West Virginia has been identified as one of the strongest centers of Christian nationalist sentiment, with roughly half of its population falling into supportive categories.
The pattern extends southward and westward through Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri and connects with the broader Bible Belt. This helps explain why researchers have described the movement's geography as extending through several overlapping cultural and political regions rather than following conventional Census boundaries.
West Virginia also illustrates another important feature of the geography: regions with high Christian nationalist support may simultaneously produce organized opposition. Religious and civic organizations in the state have monitored Christian nationalist rhetoric and legislation and developed campaigns opposing its influence.
Texas as a Political and Organizational Center
Texas occupies a particularly important position in the geography of Christian nationalism because of the combination of public support, political organization, religious institutions, wealthy donors, advocacy organizations, and state legislative power.
Investigations have documented networks of activists, churches, political organizations, and major donors supporting candidates and policies associated with Christian nationalist or dominionist ideas.
Christian nationalist rhetoric has become increasingly visible in Texas Republican politics. State political gatherings have included references to spiritual warfare, biblical governance, and the rejection of conventional interpretations of church-state separation.
Education has become one of the most important policy arenas. Debates over Christian-influenced public-school curricula, religious displays, and state education policy demonstrate how movements that begin within political and religious networks can become incorporated into statewide public policy.
At the same time, Christian communities within Texas are not politically or theologically uniform. Some churches and religious leaders explicitly oppose Christian nationalism, demonstrating that religious conservatism and Christian nationalist politics are not synonymous.
Oklahoma as a Policy Laboratory
Oklahoma combines high public support for Christian nationalism with aggressive state-level efforts involving public education and religion.
The state has been described as a testing ground for policies involving Bible instruction, religious curriculum, and religious charter schools. These disputes demonstrate how state governments can function as policy laboratories whose experiments may later be promoted elsewhere.
Oklahoma therefore illustrates the difference between Christian nationalism as an individual belief system and Christian nationalism as an organized political strategy. Its significance comes not only from public opinion but from the ability of political officials and advocacy networks to translate religious-nationalist ideas into education policy.
Great Plains and Mountain West
Christian nationalism is not exclusively a Southern phenomenon.
The Great Plains contain several states with comparatively high support. North Dakota and South Dakota are estimated at approximately 42%, Nebraska at about 38%, and Kansas at roughly 37%.
The Mountain West also contains substantial variation. Wyoming, with approximately 46% support, ranks among the strongest Christian nationalist states in the country and is the strongest identified state outside the South and Appalachia. Montana also registers high levels, while Idaho has significant support.
These results demonstrate that the movement has important constituencies across the interior West as well as the Bible Belt.
At the same time, Utah is an especially important exception. Despite being highly religious and strongly Republican, Utah has considerably lower Christian nationalist support than many Southern and Plains Republican states. Colorado also has lower-than-average statewide support despite having significant conservative Christian communities.
Such exceptions demonstrate that religiosity and Republican identification alone do not determine Christian nationalist support.
Northeast and Pacific Coast
Christian nationalist support is generally weaker in many Northeastern and Pacific states.
Massachusetts has the lowest reported level in the recent PRRI estimates, at approximately 15%. Washington is also among the lowest at approximately 18%, while New York, New Jersey, and California occupy the lower end of the national rankings.
California is particularly instructive. Because of its large population, the state contains millions of conservative Christians and substantial conservative political organizations, yet the percentage of residents classified as Christian nationalism supporters remains comparatively low.
These patterns indicate that absolute population, religious affiliation, and statewide percentages must be distinguished from one another when examining the movement geographically.
Battleground States
Presidential battleground states frequently occupy the middle of the geographic spectrum.
Pennsylvania and Michigan have approximately one-third of residents in supportive Christian nationalism categories. Wisconsin combines a significant Christian nationalist constituency with a substantial population classified as Skeptics.
Arizona also has support near the national average accompanied by significant resistance. North Carolina has somewhat higher support, reflecting both its Southern location and its competitive electoral politics.
Georgia is distinctive because Christian nationalist support is relatively high for a modern presidential battleground state. Nevada, by contrast, has substantially lower support and greater resistance than several other competitive states.
These differences mean that electoral competitiveness alone cannot predict a state's Christian nationalist profile.
Geographic Exceptions
Some of the most revealing states are those that do not fit the broader regional or partisan pattern.
Utah is strongly Republican and highly religious but exhibits considerably less Christian nationalism than many similarly Republican states. Alaska has also shown unusually high levels of resistance despite routinely supporting Republican presidential candidates.
Idaho illustrates another form of exception. Christian nationalist organizations and political actors may exercise significant influence even when public support for their positions is more limited than their visibility suggests.
Virginia likewise differs from much of the South. Its approximately 30% support rate is substantially lower than several neighboring or culturally related Southern states.
These cases caution against treating Christian nationalism as interchangeable with Christianity, religious conservatism, Republican voting, evangelical identity, or residence in a particular region.
State Legislatures and Political Institutions
State governments are crucial to understanding the movement's geography.
Studies of Christian nationalist political organizing show that similar proposals can appear in numerous legislatures through coordinated advocacy networks and model legislation. Project Blitz is one prominent example of an effort to distribute religion-related bills across state boundaries.
This strategy allows national political goals to be pursued through decentralized state institutions. Measures involving religious displays, public-school curricula, religious exemptions, Bible instruction, and other church-state issues may initially appear as separate local controversies while forming part of broader interstate political networks.
State-level Christian nationalism scores also correlate strongly with Republican representation in state legislatures. Nevertheless, the relationship does not prove that every Republican legislator or Republican voter supports Christian nationalism.
Public Education as a Geographic Strategy
Public schools have emerged as one of the most important geographic arenas of Christian nationalist politics.
Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas provide prominent examples of efforts involving the Ten Commandments, Bible instruction, religious curriculum, and other policies expanding Christianity's institutional presence in public education.
Local school boards provide another route for mobilization. Research from Pennsylvania and western Michigan documents the use of themes involving parental rights, Christian identity, cultural threat, book restrictions, and educational authority in local election campaigns.
School politics are especially significant because they allow national ideological disputes to be translated into state, county, and district-level contests.
Education policy therefore links national Christian nationalist organizations with highly localized political activism.
Project Blitz and Interstate Policy Diffusion
The geographic expansion of Christian nationalist policy does not occur solely through spontaneous local movements.
Project Blitz and similar advocacy efforts demonstrate how organizations can develop model bills and distribute them among lawmakers in numerous states. Religious-symbol legislation or comparatively narrow religious-liberty proposals may establish legal and political precedents for more expansive measures.
Oklahoma has served as one policy laboratory, while Louisiana and Texas demonstrate how related education and church-state initiatives can spread among neighboring states.
This interstate diffusion helps explain why similar controversies can emerge in multiple state legislatures within relatively short periods.
Local Political Networks
Christian nationalism also has a geography below the state level.
Local churches, political organizations, school boards, activist groups, wealthy donors, and media networks can create concentrated centers of political influence.
North and West Texas provide particularly well-documented examples. Activist organizations and donor networks originating in specific communities have helped shape statewide Republican politics and subsequently influence national political movements.
Western Michigan school-board campaigns and Pennsylvania education disputes similarly demonstrate how national ideological themes can be adapted to particular local circumstances.
The movement should therefore be understood geographically at several levels: national, regional, state, metropolitan, county, school district, congregation, and political network.
Geographic Resistance to Christian Nationalism
Opposition to Christian nationalism has its own geography.
PRRI research and local reporting document progressive Christian, interfaith, secular, and civic organizations working against Christian nationalist politics in states including Oregon, Indiana, Louisiana, Texas, Michigan, Georgia, Minnesota, Alaska, Iowa, West Virginia, and Virginia.
Some resistance organizations explicitly argue that Christian nationalism is inconsistent with Christianity, while others emphasize constitutional church-state separation, democratic pluralism, minority rights, or public education.
The existence of these organizations is particularly significant in high-support states because statewide survey averages can obscure substantial ideological differences within individual communities.
Christian nationalism and resistance to Christian nationalism can therefore coexist within the same state, denomination, city, or congregation.
Historical and Structural Geography
Contemporary geographic patterns also have historical dimensions.
Research connects modern Christian nationalism with earlier traditions of Protestant nationalism, racial hierarchy, segregation, and ideas about the United States as a divinely favored Christian nation. The South's historical experience with slavery and Jim Crow forms part of this background.
Other research traces institutional development through twentieth- and twenty-first-century religious-right organizations, political networks, and state-level activism.
Texas developed particularly influential Christian conservative organizations and political networks, while investigations in Wisconsin and other states demonstrate that important elements of the modern movement also emerged outside the South.
The present geography is therefore the result of political organization, religious history, racial and demographic patterns, regional culture, institutional development, and electoral change rather than a single historical cause.
Race, Religion and Regional Variation
Regional patterns also intersect with race and religious identity.
State-level surveys show substantial differences between racial groups, religious traditions, educational groups, and political parties within the same geographic area. In some high-support states, Christian nationalism is particularly prevalent among white residents.
However, racial composition does not mechanically determine Christian nationalist support. Nor does belonging to a Christian denomination necessarily predict support for Christian nationalism.
Researchers have distinguished among multiple forms of Christian nationalism, including charismatic dominionism, Calvinist nationalism, Catholic integralism, and broader popular conceptions of the United States as a Christian nation. Different forms may have different institutional and geographic centers.
This internal diversity helps explain why apparently similar states can produce different political outcomes.
Christian Nationalism and Electoral Geography
Christian nationalist attitudes overlap strongly with contemporary Republican electoral geography and support for Donald Trump.
Studies comparing state Christian-nationalism estimates with presidential voting find a significant relationship between higher Christian nationalist support and stronger Republican performance. This relationship is particularly relevant in closely divided states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and North Carolina.
Yet electoral geography does not perfectly reproduce Christian nationalist geography. Utah, Alaska, Virginia, Nevada, and other states illustrate departures from a simple red-state/blue-state model.
Christian nationalism is therefore an important component of contemporary political geography, but it operates alongside numerous other demographic, ideological, religious, racial, and economic factors.
Conclusion
The geography of Christian nationalism in the United States reveals a movement that is nationally distributed but highly uneven.
Its strongest concentrations occur across portions of the South, Appalachia, Great Plains, and Mountain West. Arkansas, Mississippi, West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Wyoming stand out among the highest-support states, while Massachusetts, Washington, New York, New Jersey, and California occupy the lower end of national rankings.
The pattern nevertheless contains important exceptions. Utah demonstrates that Republican politics and high religiosity do not automatically produce high Christian nationalist support. Virginia differs from much of the South, while Alaska and Nevada demonstrate unusually strong resistance relative to their broader political characteristics.
Geography also involves more than public opinion. Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and other states illustrate how legislatures, schools, churches, local political organizations, donors, and advocacy networks can translate national ideology into state and local political action.
Public education has become a particularly important arena, while coordinated interstate strategies such as Project Blitz demonstrate how legislation can move geographically from one state to another.
At the same time, Christian opposition, interfaith organizations, secular groups, and other civic movements have developed their own geographic networks of resistance.
Taken together, the evidence indicates that Christian nationalism cannot be understood simply as a Southern phenomenon, a Republican phenomenon, or a measure of Christian religiosity. Its geography reflects the interaction of religion, race, political identity, historical development, state institutions, education policy, local organization, and national political networks.
National Maps, Surveys, and Comparative Geography
1. | Statista Research Department | Statista | July 28, 2026
White Americans' Support for Christian Nationalist Views by State. Visualizes the striking interstate differences among white non-Hispanic Americans.
2. | Russell Contreras | Axios | February 18, 2026
Where Christian Nationalism Is Most Dominant in the U.S. Uses PRRI's 50-state survey to visualize geographic differences and emphasizes the ideology’s concentration in Republican-controlled states.
3. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 17, 2026
Mapping Christian Nationalism Across the 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2025 American Values Atlas. The most comprehensive current geographic survey of Christian nationalism in the United States, based on more than 22,000 interviews conducted in 2025. Support ranges from 54% in Arkansas to 15% in Massachusetts and is concentrated particularly in the South and Midwest.
4. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 17, 2026
New 50-State Survey Finds Majority of Republicans Qualify as Christian Nationalism Supporters. Summarizes the geographic relationship between Christian nationalist sentiment, Trump support, and Republican representation in state legislatures.
5. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 17, 2026
Fact Sheet: A Closer Look at Christian Nationalism in Nine States. Provides detailed profiles of Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.
6. | Religion News Service Staff | Religion News Service | February 17, 2026
Republicans, Southerners, Trump Backers Most Likely to Support Christian Nationalist Ideas. Highlights the Bible Belt, Midwest, and Appalachian concentrations found in PRRI’s newest survey.
7. | PRRI Staff | PRRI | February 17, 2026
Breaking Research: 50-State Survey Finds Majority of Republicans Qualify as Christian Nationalism Supporters. Summarizes how political geography and Christian-nationalist beliefs overlap.
8. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 2026
Christian Nationalism Across the 50 States — Full Report. Includes state-by-state percentages and maps showing the strongest concentrations in the South, Appalachia, Great Plains and parts of the Mountain West.
9. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 2026
Christian Nationalism in Selected States: Detailed Fact Sheet. Breaks state populations down by party, religion, race, education and religious attendance.
10. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2026
Data and the 2026 Midterm Elections. Interactive state-level analysis of Christian nationalism, party affiliation, religion and political attitudes in Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas.
11. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2025
Christian Nationalism Across All 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2024 American Values Atlas. Maps Christian nationalism across the country and examines its close state-level relationship with the 2024 presidential vote.
12. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | October 30, 2024
Resistance to Christian Nationalism in All 50 States. Maps Skeptics and Rejecters and shows that resistance is strongest in many coastal and Democratic-leaning states while identifying notable Republican-state exceptions.
13. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 28, 2024
Support for Christian Nationalism in All 50 States. The first PRRI survey capable of estimating Christian nationalism in every state, identifying a geographic “horseshoe” through the upper Midwest, Deep South, and Appalachia.
14. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 27, 2024
First of Its Kind Survey Maps Support for Christian Nationalism Across All 50 States. Provides a concise summary of the original nationwide state comparison.
15. | Americans United Staff | Americans United for Separation of Church and State | 2024
A New Survey Provides a Snapshot of Christian Nationalism in America. Summarizes the PRRI state rankings and describes Christian nationalism’s geographic pockets, particularly in the Bible Belt.
National Context, Research, and Demographic Correlates
16. | Chip Rotolo and Gregory A. Smith | Pew Research Center | May 14, 2026
How Americans Feel About Religion’s Influence in Government and Public Life. Provides nationwide data useful for comparing regional Christian nationalism with broader attitudes toward Christianity, law, and church-state separation.
17. | Samuel L. Perry | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | March 14, 2026
The Right Kind of Children: Christian Nationalism, Religiosity, and Support for Selective Versus General Pronatalism. Examines demographic anxiety strongly associated with Christian nationalism.
18. | Paul A. Djupe et al. | Politics and Religion | 2026
The Weakness of Anti-Christian Nationalism. Investigates why pluralistic attitudes do not always neutralize Christian-nationalist political effects.
19. | Brooklyn Walker et al. | Perspectives on Politics | October 14, 2025
Religion Is Sometimes Raced: Christian Nationalism as In-Group Protection. Explores racial differences in Christian nationalism, useful for understanding why regional racial composition does not translate mechanically into identical political outcomes.
20. | Nilay Saiya | Politics and Religion | May 13, 2025
The Varieties of American Christian Nationalism. Distinguishes charismatic dominionism, Calvinist nationalism, and Catholic integralism and helps explain why Christian nationalism can take different forms in different regions.
21. | Pew Research Center Staff | Pew Research Center | January 28, 2025
Comparing Levels of Religious Nationalism Around the World. Places American Christian nationalism within a broader comparative framework and provides alternative measures of religious nationalism.
22. | Andrew L. Whitehead et al. | Nations and Nationalism | 2025
Christian Nationalism and the Vote for Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential Election: A State-Level Analysis. Academic state-level analysis finding Christian nationalism significantly associated with Trump’s vote share even after accounting for other state characteristics.
23. | Samuel L. Perry | Politics and Religion | October 2, 2024
Which Political Entities Are “Friendly” to Religion? Examines how Christian nationalism and political identity shape perceptions of parties and government institutions.
24. | Samuel L. Perry and Joshua B. Grubbs | Politics and Religion | September 19, 2024
Christian Nationalism and Support for Leaders Violating Democratic Norms During National Emergencies. Provides context for interpreting political consequences in states with high Christian-nationalism scores.
25. | Chip Rotolo, Gregory A. Smith and Jonathan Evans | Pew Research Center | March 15, 2024
Christianity’s Place in Politics and Christian Nationalism. Examines support for biblical influence on laws, official Christianity, and church-state separation.
26. | Philip Bump | The Washington Post | February 29, 2024
The Overlap of Trumpism and Christian Nationalism. Analyzes PRRI’s state estimates alongside presidential voting and illustrates the geographic correlation graphically.
27. | Robert P. Jones | TIME | 2024
Trump’s Christian Nationalist Vision for America. Discusses state-level variation and the exceptionally strong relationship between Christian nationalism and Trump voting, particularly among white residents.
28. | Zachary D. Broeren and Paul A. Djupe | Politics and Religion | December 4, 2023
The Ingroup Love and Outgroup Hate of Christian Nationalism. Helps interpret how perceptions of group threat may interact with regional Christian nationalist cultures.
29. | Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry | TIME | 2021
The Growing Anti-Democratic Threat of Christian Nationalism in the U.S. Connects Christian nationalism with voting restrictions and political exclusion, providing context for state-level geographic differences.
30. | Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry | Oxford University Press | March 19, 2020
Four Americans. Examines demographic and regional differences among Christian nationalism Ambassadors, Accommodators, Resisters, and Rejecters.
South and Bible Belt
31. | Americans United Staff | Americans United for Separation of Church and State | 2024–2026
Louisiana’s Ten Commandments Lawsuit. Documents Louisiana’s law requiring Ten Commandments displays in public classrooms and the resulting church-state litigation.
32. | Mark Silk | Religion News Service | August 26, 2026
Oklahoma Primary Runoff Answered a Question About Anti-Christian Nationalism. Reviews Christian nationalist politics in one of the states with the country's highest levels of popular support.
33. | John M. Semmes | Mississippi Today | May 5, 2026
Pastor: How Progressives Resist in Current Political Environment. A Mississippi pastor discusses Christian nationalism from within one of the two states where support exceeds 50%.
34. | J. Holly McCall | Tennessee Lookout | February 21, 2026
In Nashville, Hegseth Talks “Western Values,” Christian Nationalism. Examines Christian-nationalist rhetoric at a major religious-media gathering in Tennessee.
35. | West Virginia Faith Collective | West Virginia Faith Collective | 2026
The West Virginians Keeping an Eye on Christian Nationalism. Describes a citizen project monitoring Christian-nationalist rhetoric in one of the country’s highest-support states.
36. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2026
Arkansas and Christian Nationalism. PRRI's newest data identify Arkansas as the state with the country's highest combined share of Christian nationalism Adherents and Sympathizers, at 54%.
37. | David Smith | The Guardian | November 15, 2025
Faith Leaders Enter Politics to Counter Christian Nationalism. Includes Arkansas among states where clergy are mobilizing politically against Christian-nationalist Republican politics.
38. | Daniel Holcomb | Baptist News Global | August 28, 2025
My Summer Quest to Learn More About Christian Nationalism. Describes engagement with Christian nationalism among churches and pastors in Tennessee.
39. | Steven Frye | New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education | June 19, 2025
Religious Education and White Religious Nationalism. Written from Tennessee and addresses educational responses to white Christian nationalism.
40. | The Guardian Staff | The Guardian | February 27, 2025
Testing Ground for Project 2025: Behind Oklahoma’s Right-Wing Push to Erode the Line Between Church and State. Examines Oklahoma as a state-level laboratory for policies associated with Christian nationalist organizations.
41. | Hannah Allam | The Washington Post | October 29, 2024
In a Race They Cast as Good vs. Evil, Christian Hard-Liners Are Fired Up for Trump. Reports from a Christian-nationalist mobilization event in Louisiana and explores regional organizing in the South.
42. | Axios Staff | Axios | June 24, 2024
Axios Explains: Christian Nationalism on the March. Uses Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law to examine the wider spread of Christian nationalist policies.
43. | Carter Sherman | The Guardian | March 2, 2024
What Alabama’s IVF Ruling Reveals About the Ascendant Christian Nationalist Movement. Uses Alabama, one of the highest-ranking states in the original PRRI survey, as a case study of Christian nationalist legal influence.
Texas
44. | Americans United Staff | Americans United for Separation of Church and State | 2025–2026
Fighting Christian Nationalism in Texas. Tracks lawsuits challenging state-sponsored Ten Commandments displays and related policies.
45. | Robert Downen et al. | The Texas Tribune / Religion News Service | August 13, 2026
Paxton and Talarico Tap Contrary Versions of Christianity. Shows Christian nationalism becoming an explicit issue in a major Texas election campaign.
46. | Texas Tribune Staff | The Texas Tribune | July 29, 2026
Religion Motivates Data Center Opposition in Texas. Illustrates the use of spiritual-warfare language in grassroots Texas politics.
47. | Carly Rose Jackson et al. | The Texas Tribune | August 4, 2025
IRS Says Churches Can Endorse Candidates, Giving Texas Pastors More Political Power. Examines Texas' unusually dense megachurch network and its potential political influence.
48. | Robert Downen | The Texas Tribune | March 17, 2025
In Texas, Christian Right Grows Confident and Assertive. Detailed examination of Christian nationalist legislation, networks, rhetoric, and public-school policy in Texas.
49. | Texas Tribune Staff | The Texas Tribune | March 13, 2025
Christian Nationalism and the Texas Public Sphere. Symposium examining Texas religious demographics and the movement's unusually strong political infrastructure.
50. | Robert Downen | The Texas Tribune | January 15, 2025
Texas GOP Chair Claims Church-State Separation Is a Myth as Lawmakers, Pastors Prep for “Spiritual Battle.” Examines Christian nationalism around the Texas Capitol.
51. | Michael O. Emerson and Mark P. Jones | Baker Institute for Public Policy | 2025
Between Pulpit and Policy: Christian Nationalism and the Texas Legislature. Discusses abortion, immigration, education, gender policy and religious rhetoric in Texas government.
52. | Ava Kofman | ProPublica / New York Times Magazine | October 2, 2024
A Pair of Billionaire Preachers Built the Most Powerful Political Machine in Texas. Investigates the financial networks supporting Christian nationalist and dominionist politics in Texas.
53. | Robert Downen | The Texas Tribune | September 13, 2024
At This West Texas Church, “the Lord’s Work” Is Helping the Poor, Not Rewriting State Law. Provides a useful counterexample showing opposition to Christian nationalism within conservative and religious Texas communities.
54. | The Texas Tribune Staff | The Texas Tribune | July 19, 2024
Texas’ Christian-Influenced Curriculum Spurs Worries About Bullying, Church-State Separation. Explores Christian nationalist influence in Texas public education.
55. | Kayla Guo and Juan Salinas II | The Texas Tribune | June 13, 2024
Speakers Pull Out of Prominent Activist Group’s Pro-Christian Nationalist Conference. Follow-up reporting on backlash against the Texas event.
56. | Juan Salinas II and Robert Downen | The Texas Tribune | June 12, 2024
“War on White America”: Influential Texas Group Hosting Pro-Christian Nationalism Conference. Examines a North Texas organization linking Christian nationalism with other far-right movements.
57. | Robert Downen | The Texas Tribune | May 28, 2024
At Texas GOP Convention, Republicans Call for Spiritual Warfare. Documents the explicit normalization of Christian nationalism within the Texas Republican Party.
58. | Robert Downen | The Texas Tribune | May 25, 2024
Proposed Texas GOP Platform Would Lock Democrats Out of State Office. Includes the party platform’s calls for biblical instruction and Christian self-government.
Christian Nationalism’s Rising Influence. Examines Texas as a focal point for Christian nationalism with potential national policy consequences.
60. | Robert Downen | The Texas Tribune | November 3, 2023
Texas Activist David Barton Wants to End Separation of Church and State. Profiles one of Texas’ most influential Christian nationalist organizers and his national network.
61. | Robert Downen | The Texas Tribune | May 4, 2023
Conservative Christians Want More Religion in Public Life. Texas Lawmakers Are Listening. Provides background on Texas as a long-running center of Christian nationalist policymaking.
62. | David R. Brockman | Baker Institute for Public Policy | 2020
Christian Americanism and Texas Politics Since 2008. Maps organizations, politicians, and activists promoting Christian nationalist ideas in Texas.
Louisiana
63. | Brice Laughrey | Breaking Bread Theology | August 6, 2024
Louisiana and the Ten Commandments. Examines the ideology and legal arguments behind Louisiana's public-school mandate.
64. | Tanner Stening | Northeastern Global News | June 24, 2024
Louisiana Ten Commandments Law “Intimidating and Coercive,” Legal Scholar Says. Connects Louisiana's classroom mandate to growing Christian-nationalist influence.
65. | Americans United Staff | Americans United | June 19, 2024
Lawsuit Challenging Louisiana Ten Commandments Classroom Law. Documents resistance to one of the country's clearest examples of state-sponsored religious policy.
Tennessee and Kentucky
66. | Brooklyn Walker and Paul Djupe | University of Tennessee | September 10, 2026
Christian Nationalists' Support for Religious Pluralism Is Often Drowned Out by Perceptions Christians Are Under Threat. Research from Tennessee examining threat perceptions within the ideology.
67. | Berry Craig | Kentucky Lantern | April 29, 2026
Kentucky, Republicans and the History of Religious Politics. Contrasts modern Christian nationalism with an earlier tradition of Republican religious skepticism.
68. | Holly McCall | Tennessee Lookout | February 23, 2026
The Tennessee Legislature Gets Up in Your Spiritual Business. Examines religious legislation against the backdrop of Tennessee's Christian-nationalism score.
69. | Heidi Schlumpf | National Catholic Reporter | October 25, 2024
Christian Nationalism Distorts the Faith, Says Lexington Bishop John Stowe. Reports religious resistance within Kentucky.
70. | Christian Church in Tennessee | Tennessee Disciples of Christ | October 2024
White Christian Nationalism and Project 2025. Tennessee regional church gathering examining Christian nationalist politics and theology.
Georgia
71. | Don Plummer | Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta | October 9, 2024
Episcopal Bishop Challenges Christian Nationalism. Shows organized Christian resistance within Georgia's religious communities.
72. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2024
The 2024 Presidential Battleground: Inside Georgia. Examines Christian-nationalism categories alongside Georgia's racial, religious and partisan composition.
North Carolina and Virginia
73. | Christine Zhu | NC Newsline | February 20, 2026
North Carolina's Christian Nationalism Support Tops U.S. Average, Trails Much of Southeast. Places North Carolina directly within its regional context.
74. | Williamsburg Christian Church | Williamsburg Christian Church | August 17, 2025
Virginia Church Declares Christian Nationalism a Heresy. Local example of organized Christian resistance in a state where support is lower than elsewhere in the South.
Appalachia and West Virginia
75. | West Virginia Faith Collective | West Virginia Faith Collective | July 12, 2025
Disrupting Empire: Resisting Christian Nationalism Through Nonviolence. Documents organized religious opposition to Christian nationalism in West Virginia.
76. | Freedom From Religion Foundation Staff | Freedom From Religion Foundation | February 28, 2025
FFRF Denounces West Virginia Attempt to Enshrine Christian Nationalism Into State Constitution. Examines a proposal declaring the Bible foundational to West Virginia society and government.
Oklahoma
77. | Oklahoma Faith Network | Oklahoma Faith Network | August 18, 2026
Christian Nationalism and Oklahoma Public Schools. Discusses the effort to introduce a narrow religious agenda into state education policy.
78. | Oklahoma Faith Network | Oklahoma Faith Network | August 3, 2026
New Report on Christian Nationalism in Public Education. Examines Oklahoma as a major state-level testing ground for imposing religion through public schools.
Midwest and Great Plains
79. | Michigan Advance Staff | Michigan Advance | 2025–2026
Christian Nationalism Archive. Collects reporting on the ideology’s political networks and electoral influence in Michigan.
80. | Christians Against Christian Nationalism Minnesota | CACN Minnesota | 2024–2026
Christians Against Christian Nationalism Minnesota. Documents the development of a statewide religious resistance network.
81. | Interfaith Alliance of Iowa | Interfaith Alliance Iowa | 2024–2026
Christian Nationalism: A Resource Guide. Iowa-focused educational project examining Christian nationalism and democracy.
82. | Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers | Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers | 2025–2026
Iowa Christians on Christian Nationalism. Collection of interviews with Iowa religious leaders about the movement.
83. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | August 2026
Progressive Christian Mobilization and the Discourse of White Christian Nationalism. Includes field research among groups in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and other states resisting Christian nationalism.
84. | Jon King | Michigan Advance | February 17, 2026
Survey: 1 in 3 Michigan Residents Align With Christian Nationalist Views. State-specific analysis placing Michigan almost exactly at the national average.
85. | Kimberly H. Conger | Politics and Religion | January 14, 2026
Tilled Fields for Christian Nationalism: Project Blitz and the Evolution of the Christian Right. Studies coordinated model legislation introduced across numerous state legislatures.
86. | Karen Kasler | Statehouse News Bureau | December 2, 2025
Ohio House GOP Approves Bill Allowing Teaching of Religion’s Positive Role in U.S. History. Examines debate over whether legislation would create a path for Christian nationalist interpretations of American history.
87. | Matthew McFarland | Jefferson City News Tribune | November 17, 2025
Baptist Reverend: Christian Nationalism Targets Schools. Missouri religious leader describes public education as a major target of the movement.
88. | Missouri Mid-South Conference UCC | United Church of Christ | September 20, 2025
Christian Nationalism: A Threat to Democracy and Christianity. Missouri church event reflecting organized local resistance.
89. | Katie Ward et al. | Reading Research Quarterly | August 13, 2025
“Book Boundaries” in West Michigan School Board Election Campaigns. Academic study of white Christian-nationalist rhetoric in localized education politics.
90. | Deon K. Johnson | Episcopal Diocese of Missouri | March 10, 2025
The Crisis of Christian Nationalism. Missouri Episcopal bishop condemns nationalism and calls for changes to patriotic symbolism inside churches.
91. | Sarah Leach | Ottawa News Network | February 17, 2025
Ottawa County Organizers Warn About Christian Nationalism. Examines the movement at county-government level in western Michigan.
92. | Christopher Ingraham | Minnesota Reformer | February 10, 2025
The Topline: Christian Nationalism in Minnesota. Reports that Minnesota's Christian-nationalism support was substantially below the national average.
93. | Missouri Mid-South Conference UCC | United Church of Christ | January 19, 2025
Christian Nationalism: What Is It and Should We Be Worried? St. Louis congregation explores Christian nationalism's political implications.
94. | Episcopal Diocese of Iowa | Episcopal Diocese of Iowa | February–March 2024
Rescuing the Gospel From Christian Nationalism. Documents Iowa religious resistance and discussion of racism, white supremacy and nationalism.
95. | Dan White | Episcopal Church in Minnesota | August 21, 2024
Understanding Christian Nationalism. Reports a Minnesota church-based effort to discuss the ideology across partisan divisions.
96. | Nativity Lutheran Church | Nativity Lutheran Church | January 2024
Christian Nationalism: Why Speaking Out Against It Matters. Documents early organizing that helped establish a Minnesota chapter of Christians Against Christian Nationalism.
Pennsylvania and Battleground States
97. | Esther Prins et al. | Pennsylvania State University | 2025
White Christian Nationalism in a Pennsylvania School Board Election. University repository version describing how nationalist themes entered local education politics.
United for What and for Whom? An Analysis of White Christian Nationalism in a 2023 School Board Election Campaign. Detailed study of State College, Pennsylvania.
Mountain West and Southwest
99. | Samuel L. Perry et al. | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | September 17, 2026
Christian Nationalism, the Antisocial Gospel? Includes researchers based in Oklahoma, California and New Mexico and analyzes attitudes toward charity and social justice.
100. | Russell Contreras and John Frank | Axios Boulder | February 24, 2026
Mapped: Christian Nationalism. Examines Colorado, where Christian nationalism is below the national average despite the state's substantial evangelical and conservative regions.
101. | Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror | February 24, 2026
Christian Nationalism Is Backed by a Third of Arizonans and a Majority of GOP. State-specific analysis of the PRRI results.
102. | Axios Salt Lake City Staff | Axios | February 23, 2026
Most Utahns Don’t Support Christian Nationalism. Important geographic exception: Utah is a strongly Republican state but has substantially lower Christian-nationalism support than many other red states.
103. | Bryan Clark | Idaho Statesman | February 19, 2026
New Research Shows Idaho’s Christian Nationalists Lack Popular Support. Contrasts political influence with levels of public support in Idaho.
State Institutions, Policy Diffusion, and Education
104. | National Education Policy Center Staff | University of Colorado Boulder | November 2025
Christian Nationalism and Educational Policy in the United States. Reviews book bans, school-board takeovers, vouchers and state legislation as geographic strategies.
105. | David R. Brockman | Baker Institute for Public Policy | 2024
The Texas Legislature’s Assault on Church-State Separation in Schools. Examines public-school legislation as a central venue for Christian nationalist policymaking.
106. | Rachel Tabachnick | Political Research Associates | July 1, 2010
From Schoolhouse to Statehouse. Earlier analysis of Christian nationalist efforts to influence curriculum and education policy geographically through state and local institutions.
Historical and Structural Geography
107. | Daniel D. Miller | Cambridge / Edinburgh University Press | March 7, 2025
Christian Nationalism. Historical overview of Christian nationalism as a recurring dimension of American religion and political identity.
108. | TIME Staff | TIME | 2024
The Christian Nationalism at the Heart of Jim Crow America. Connects contemporary geography to the historical concentration of Protestant nationalism and white supremacy in the South.
Wisconsin and the Origins of the Movement
109. | Phoebe Petrovic | Wisconsin Watch / ProPublica | October 26, 2024
The Genesis of Christian Nationalism. Extensive investigation tracing the movement's development and its influence from local government to the presidency.
