Republican Party leaders want Christian voters to sit down and shut up.
But one evangelical leader is fighting back.
Chad Connelly is the founder of Faith Wins and he’s traveling across the nation encouraging Christians to get involved in the political process.
“The evangelical Christian is the base of the conservative movement. There’s no doubt about it. It’s 100 percent,” Connelly told Todd during a recent interview. “You can look at it and they know the political types know this, Todd. The number one way to tell a conservative voter or a Republican voter is regular church attendance. But it seems they want our votes but always don’t want our voices. Well, what I’ve decided with my 501C3 is we’re going to make sure Christian votes and voices are heard and felt at every level in the public arena.” Following, is a rush transcript of Todd’s interview.
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STARNES: [00:41:29] I want to go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line. Honored to have a good friend of this program, Chad Connelly. He is with an incredible group called Faith Wins. He has been traveling all over America and has been recruiting folks to get involved in the political process. Chad, good to have you back with us. [00:41:49][20.7]
CONNELLY: [00:41:51] Hey, Todd, how you doing, brother? Great to be here, man. I’m so honored and proud of what you’re doing and proud to be another Bible clinging and gun toting American with you, brother. [00:42:01][10.0]
STARNES: [00:42:01] Chad! Yes, I haven’t heard that in a long time, but it’s true and we need more of us out there. Chad, I want you to let our listeners know what you’ve been doing. You guys have been traveling all over America. What is the message that you’re bringing with you? [00:42:15][13.9]
CONNELLY: [00:42:16] You know, the message is, Todd, don’t leave a stone unturned. We don’t tell people who to vote for, but we’re pushing pastors to hold nonpartizan voter registration in the churches. You probably know I told you a little bit about it. We got 312 churches in Virginia who registered 77,000 evangelicals who had never voted before. And I don’t know if that made a difference or not, but a guy named Youngkin who led prayers in Jesus name at his inauguration won by, what, 63,800 and something. So maybe those 77,000 new evangelicals helped. But our little teams registered a little over 1 million new evangelicals in the last two years. Our goal is to do another 2 million this year because we cannot leave a stone unturned. Every Christian needs to be voting. So we ask them two things: Make sure everybody in your church is registered. And number two, make sure they vote biblical values. That’s it. [00:43:04][47.4]
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STARNES: [00:43:05] I mean, these are phenomenal numbers. I’m just surprised that a lot of these people were not registered to vote in the first place. What’s the reason that people are telling you maybe why they weren’t registered to begin with? [00:43:16][11.1]
CONNELLY: [00:43:17] You know, it’s stunning. It’s two things. This number one, they think their vote doesn’t matter. And number two, their pastor assumes they’re all registered. You probably know, a pastor buddy of ours in Asheville, North Carolina, a couple of thousand people in the church. He said, Chad, my people are registered. I said, Pastor. Double dog dare you do it back to back Sundays. Put a table out there. I’ll get you the materials. I’ll send you the links. And he had over 400 people in his church. He was shocked. And I can tell that story everywhere. I was in Macon, Georgia, this weekend. I told them the same thing. I spoke three times in a church in Macon and I said, just poll voter registration. And Todd we did that throughout Virginia. You know, there’s there are probably 10,000 churches in the state of Virginia. We found 312, exactly. And I’m sure others did it, but we measured 312 and we followed up with texts and emails and even phone calls. Hey, Pastor, I don’t have to have exact the number, but give me about how many people registered. And we measured 77,000 people and we went to the rural areas and we decided we’re going to run up the score, we’re going to make sure Christians vote. And of course, guess what happened? People came out of the woodwork and even the state house flipped. [00:44:25][68.8]
STARNES: [00:44:27] This is phenomenal because when people of faith get out and vote, they engage in the political process. They really can make a difference. [00:44:35][8.3]
CONNELLY: [00:44:36] You know, I guess they don’t realize it. Todd. We all live in our bubble and we think everybody’s doing this. But I think what we saw in Virginia and I’ve been in 17 states so far this year, even been in the People’s Republics of California and New Jersey, God’s people are coming awake. And the people in New Jersey said, Chad, you don’t have the same pastor network that you have in Virginia and other states. I said nobody else does here either, y’all, why don’t you give it a try? We’re not asking to charge the beach on D-Day and face the withering German machine gunfire and march down to Trenton on Christmas night to attack the Hessians. We’re asking you to, number one, register everybody in your church and number two, make sure they vote biblical values. And of course, the catch is, the hook, I guess, for the pastor when they talk about the importance of voter registration, people remember the importance of voting and voting biblical values. And of course, you and I know if we just talk to them about life and marriage and Israel and religious liberty, then good things happen, as we saw in the last week with the Supreme Court is just a thank you Jesus moment for the legacy of President Trump being secured, putting all those conservative judges in place and America is turning. But I got to tell you, man, all these states I’ve been in, everywhere I’ve been. I was in Colorado, California, I’ve been in New Jersey and Ohio, Michigan and Minneapolis, Minnesota, people are coming alive. I’ve been in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and I can’t even remember them all. People are coming out of the woodwork saying, I am sorry, I’ve never engaged, but everything that’s going on, now’s the time to engage. So God’s doing something, brother. [00:46:09][92.8]
STARNES: [00:46:09] On the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line is Chad Connelly. And Chad, give us the website address. Where can people go if they want to get involved, if they’re a pastor where they can get some info? [00:46:20][10.7]
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CONNELLY: [00:46:21] Yes, sir. Faith Wins. faithwins.us is our website. We’ve got videos on there. We got links. And Todd, as you know, I’m dragging around a guy named David Barton who I believe is America’s greatest Christian historian. [00:46:34][12.5]
STARNES: [00:46:37] Oh Lord, you’ve got Barton out there. [00:46:37][0.8]
CONNELLY: [00:46:38] I’ve got Barton. We’re going to probably get 100 meetings in 20 or 21 states between now and the election. So if people watch my faithwins.us site, we’ve got some dates in July, but of course we’re packing them in September, October, and we’re probably going to be in one of the states where people are listening right now. [00:46:56][18.1]
STARNES: [00:46:57] Well, I love David Barton. He’s a good friend. But I got to tell you, he talks faster than Ben Shapiro, I think. [00:47:03][6.4]
CONNELLY: [00:47:04] HAHA [00:47:04][0.0]
STARNES: [00:47:06] It’s like a gatling gun, you know. [00:47:08][1.5]
CONNELLY: [00:47:08] It is, but he’s the best, and people just come awake when they realize God’s role in America is irreplaceable. And we’ve forgotten that. It has been lied about, has been glossed over and covered up. So tell people to come out. If they watch their faithwins.us site and they go on there and they can sign up to take action, they’ll get an email when we’re coming to their state. They can come and join us. [00:47:30][21.2]
STARNES: [00:47:30] You know, Chad, what I find fascinating and especially about this time in the Republican Party, I mean, there is still a debate over whether or not evangelicals should have a voice in the party. And I find that ironic because I think now I mean, and again, this was going back before the Moral Majority. I think the argument can be made that the base of the party would be the Rockefeller Republicans. But I think the shift has happened. And I think the evangelicals are, in fact, the base of the party now. [00:48:00][30.1]
CONNELLY: [00:48:02] 100% Look, we’re like, what, 50% or 52% of the primary vote, 30% or 32% of the general election vote. As you know, and I’ve shared this with you, I was the first ever national director of Faith Engagement. And one big reason I left is I didn’t see the same dedicated effort. I saw an effort to do faith engagement, and I’m not against them reaching out to every faith. But the evangelical Christian is the base of the conservative movement. There’s no doubt about it. It’s 100%. You can look at it and they know the political types know this, Todd. The number one way to tell a conservative voter or a Republican voter is regular church attendance. But it seems they want our votes but always don’t want our voices. Well, what I’ve decided with my 501C3 is we’re going to make sure Christian votes and voices are heard and felt at every level in the public arena. [00:48:50][47.6]
STARNES: [00:48:50] Well, I think this is tremendous work you’re doing out there, Chad. And I know our listeners are going to respond. Folks, faithwins.us, that is the the website. Chad, we’re going to leave it there. We’d love to get you back on and get your insight as we get closer to the midterm elections. [00:49:06][15.4]
CONNELLY: [00:49:07] Absolutely, brother. Man, look, I love you and respect you and I’m thankful for your voice, Todd. And any time I can hop on and talk to you and your folks, you let me know. [00:49:15][7.8]