Evangelical political leaders, eager to enlist an army of religious voters, are building a campaign to get 1,000 church pastors to run for office, believing that their campaigns would awaken 50 million Christian voters who never make it to the polls.
Led by influential evangelical activist David Lane and his well-funded American Renewal Project, and newly endorsed by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, the campaign is aimed at influencing representation locally, in Congress, and putting a Republican sympathetic to Christian views in the White House.
Lane is well known for his “Pastors & Pews” sessions around the country where he brings pastors together to meet with top Christian Republicans such as Mike Huckabee, Jindal, and Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. He has been hosting the events for 10 years, meeting with 15,000 pastors in 18 states.
Now he is enlisting some of those pastors to run for office. “I’m getting an army marching,” he said.
Lane said he wants pastors to run for “city council, county commissioner, school board, mayor or Congress in 2016. If the Lord called 1,000 pastors to run in 2016, and they averaged 300 volunteers per campaign — 300K grassroots, precinct-level Evangelicals — coming from the bottom-up in ’16 — would change America for good.”
Jindal endorsed his effort in a letter to 100,000 pastors. In promoting an American Renewal Project session in Baton Rouge, La., on Jan. 23, Jindal wrote, “We are going to discuss the importance of raising up the next generation of leaders in America who understand these challenging times and know what to do about them. There is a great need for the kind of leaders we read about in the Old Testament, ‘The Men of Issachar’ (1 Chronicles 12:32). We need such men and women of wisdom today who will accept the challenge to restore our Judeo-Christian heritage in America.”
Lane’s group isn’t just rallying pastors. After influencing several 2014 midterm elections, he is also raising a ton of money for 2016.
“I think the Lord has laid this out to me,” he said.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
