On Wednesday, December 16, Faith and Freedom Coalition Chairman Ralph Reed joined NRB CEO Troy Miller, the NRB Board of Directors, and the NRB President’s Council on a private call to break down the results of the 2020 elections.
Reed began by sharing some statistics from the November national election. This election boasted the largest turnout of voters since 1900. Although official numbers are not yet released, somewhere between 156-158 million voters showed up for the November 2020 election. This is an increase of 26-28 million voters since the 2016 election. With this large turnout, President Trump received more votes than any other Republican nominee for president in history — still not enough to secure his re-election.
Of these 156-158 million voters, 28% identified as evangelical voters—an increase of 9.2 million voters since 2016.
But the U.S. presidential election was not the only election that took place on November 3. Reed also discussed the overall election, noting that results were mostly positive.
“The Republicans are in a stronger position today than they were the morning after the 2010 landslide,” Reed said. “The morning after the 2010 landslide, the Republicans controlled 56 out of 99 legislative chambers. Today, having picked up two more, they stand at 61 out of 99 legislative chambers.”
Reed went on to address the ongoing Senate race in Georgia, his home state.
“This is the first time since direct election of the U.S. Senate by popular vote began in 1916 that control of the U.S. Senate has been decided by two runoff elections in one day in one state,” Reed said. “But that’s what is going to happen.”
Reed said that he expected this to be a 1% race, separated by no more than 1000 votes, with either the Republicans winning both Senate seats or losing them both.
“This is a turnout election, not a persuasion election,” Reed noted.
Following Reed’s opening remarks, Miller asked him about what we learned coming out of the national election.
“One of the takeaways is that we have the opportunity, first of all as a faith community and secondly for those of us who are Republicans, to really grow the party and have a more diverse coalition—more women, more young people, and especially more Hispanics and African-Americans and Asians,” Reed told NRB leaders. “Another takeaway is that we have to hang on to those traditional, more modern Republicans in the suburbs.”
Reed went on to discuss the inaccuracy of polling in this election, noting that one major cause was the huge increase in voter turnout.
“All a pollster does is build a projected model of what the electorate will look like on election day based on what? Based on what the electorate has looked like in the three previous elections,” Reed said. “All you’re doing is an educated guess. It’s not a science.”
To close out the President’s Council call, Miller opened it up to Q&A from attendees.
Reed called on broadcasters and churches to be a part of reaching young voters.
“There are definitely points where we can connect. We’ve just got to get in there and do our job, and you all can do that as broadcasters. You can develop programing. You can (as churches) make sure that we’re relevant to the rising generation,” Reed encouraged NRB leaders. “One of the things I’m really excited about in the evangelical community is that there are a lot of great churches out there that are connecting with young people. They’re hungry for Jesus. They just don’t want to be part of what they see as the ‘religious right.’”
Attendees on the call also asked several questions about the integrity of the Georgia Senate election.
Reed said that Faith and Freedom Coalition is prepared for any potential issues that may arise. Thousands of people across Georgia have signed up to be poll watchers and election observers, and Reed said that legal SWAT teams and rapid response teams are being readied across the state to ensure the security of the runoff election.
Early voting has begun in Georgia, with election day approaching on January 5, 2021. Reed encouraged volunteers to come to Georgia or make calls to contact evangelicals and remind them to get out and vote. Miller echoed this as a challenge for attendees. To learn more about Faith and Freedom Coalition’s work in Georgia, click here.
As he closed the call, Reed said that he was grateful to NRB and the vital role that NRB members play in the life of our nation.
“I just want you to know that we’re proud and honored to be locked arm-in-arm with you and defend your rights and the importance of your industry in our country,” Reed said.
To learn more about the NRB President’s Council, click here.
