Key points:
- The Rev. Adam Hamilton and Keisha Lance Bottoms notched historic wins in the Kansas Senate and Georgia governor races, respectively.
- Both winners talked about their faith and call to serve in their victory speeches.
- Other United Methodists in public office include Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver of Missouri and Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi.
United Methodism is part of the “blue wave” that swept the U.S. on Election Day, led by the Rev. Adam Hamilton winning a Kansas Senate seat, and Keisha Lance Bottoms making history with a victory in Georgia’s governor race.
Both say they will take their values with them in their new posts.
“We are no longer going to ignore the pain of our neighbors,” Hamilton said during his Nov. 3 acceptance speech. His win marks the first time in 94 years that Kansas elected a Democratic senator.
Founder and senior pastor of Resurrection, The United Methodist Church’s largest U.S. congregation, Hamilton spoke about a return to decency, noting that what is happening in Washington right now is not OK.
“Decency doesn’t belittle people. It doesn’t benefit the rich at the expense of the poor. It doesn’t ignore the cries of the needy. It’s not cruel or unkind,” he said.
He also spoke about The United Methodist Church’s new vision statement to “love boldly, serve joyfully and lead courageously.” He said he was preaching about the vision last October when he felt the call to run for Senate.
“The real work starts Jan. 3,” Hamilton said. “I’m going to do all I can to love boldly, to help us as a nation love boldly, to serve joyfully and to lead courageously.”
Bottoms, a member of Ben Hill United Methodist Church in Atlanta, talked about her faith in her victory speech.
“From the beginning of this campaign, I believe that God would not give vision without provision,” she said. “That provision has come by way of every prayer sent, every door knock, every phone call made, and every donation given, and every sign that has been planted, in big and small ways, you’ve shown that no amount of money will ever… overcome the power of the people.”
She dedicated the victory to veterans, small business owners, farmers, teachers and children across the state. She also congratulated her opponent Rick Jackson, a Georgia businessman, on a hard-fought race and committed to work with him to support foster children across the state. Jackson spent part of his teen years in the foster care system and remembers fondly a life-changing gift of $100 he received at the United Methodist Children’s Home in Decatur.
Responding to midterm elections
United Women in Faith and United Methodist Men offered messages following the midterm elections.
Read statement from Sally Vonner, top executive of United Women in Faith.
Read message from Rev. Rick Vance, top executive of the Commission on United Methodist Men.
Election returns are still being tallied for a number of congressional seats in the 120th Congress, which will officially convene Jan. 3, 2027. But United Methodists historically have counted both Republican and Democratic elected leaders among its members. Famously, both former Sen. Hillary Clinton and President George W. Bush have been part of the United Methodist fold.
According to Pew Research Center, the soon-to-conclude 119th Congress includes 26 self-identified Methodists. Pew’s list includes members of various Methodist denominations, including elected leaders whose church homes have disaffiliated from The United Methodist Church.
The 120th Congress will include two United Methodist clergy members. In addition to Hamilton, Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver of Missouri, an ordained United Methodist elder, was re-elected. United Methodist elected Republican leaders include U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma and Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi.
Bishop Julius C. Trimble, who leads the denomination’s social witness agency, said the core values of newly elected United Methodist government officials will not change because of politics.
“These United Methodists that have been elected, they are already committed to servant leadership,” said Trimble, interim top executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society.
“So, love of God and love of neighbor … means bringing solutions that make life better, particularly for those who are marginalized, those who have been maybe left out and those who may not be in the top 1% of income earners in in the nation.”
Issues like immigration and reduction in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for more than 2 million American children are likely priorities, Trimble said.
“I anticipate that they’ll come in and say, ‘Hey, we can’t live in a country that overlooks the most needy and fails to do anything about it,’” he said.
Hamilton will not be leaving his religion behind when he heads to Washington, said Kay McCarthy, lay leader of Resurrection.
“He follows Jesus. And, to me, (politics) is an additional ministry focus,” McCarthy said. “It’s a hard job, but his morals and values are still going to be at the forefront of his decision making.”
Hamilton will serve the people of Kansas as faithfully as he has tended to Resurrection, said Bishop David Wilson who leads the Great Plains Conference that includes Resurrection. The congregation has more than 24,000 members over nine facilities.
“Whenever anyone asks me about Adam, I am able to tell them he is the same person when he is away from the spotlights as he is when he is in front of them,” Wilson said in a statement. “He cares deeply for people, has a passion for sharing the Gospel, and understands that with much trust comes much responsibility.”
Wilson said Hamilton will remain as the senior pastor, but the regular preaching duties will fall to others.
The midterms in general are “a step away from authoritarianism and toward a balance of powers,” said Western North Carolina Conference Bishop Ken Carter, “and I think that’s good for our nation.”
Carter said that Black churches have something to teach about people from the church getting involved in politics.
“They have a tradition of clergy and lay leaders serving in the public space as governmental leaders because they know there’s a great deal at stake,” Carter said. “I think we have a great deal to learn from the Black church … about how loving our neighbor is translated through policies.”
United Methodist candidates benefited in the midterms from “younger voters who flipped the election away from hardcore evangelical Christian Trump values,” said James Hudnut-Beumler, a Vanderbilt Divinity School professor who studies mainline Christian denominations.
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“That might be something (to watch),” said Hudnut-Beumler, Anne Potter Wilson Distinguished Professor of American Religious History, emeritus.
“On the other hand, (young people) haven’t been hanging around United Methodist churches or Presbyterian or Lutheran churches so much. They’re choosing the old reliable big-tent brand for its inclusion.”
Whether this election is an aberration or the start of a new era hasn’t been decided yet.
One thing is certain: Hamilton and Bottoms plan to rely on their Christian faith.
“My faith has reminded me we are never to grow weary of well-doing,” said Bottoms, referencing Galatians 6:9.
Patterson is a reporter for UM News. Contact him at 615-742-5470 or [email protected]. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.
