Americans think Bernie Sanders is least religious of Democratic front-runners

Sixty percent of respondents — and 75% of Jewish respondents — say the Vermont senator is ‘not too religious’ or ‘not at all religious’

By Josefin Dolsten 28 February 2020, 1:31 am

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Bernie Sanders on stage at the Democratic presidential primary debate at the Charleston Gaillard Center in South Carolina, February 25, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images/via JTA)

JTA — Americans view Bernie Sanders as the least religious of four Democratic presidential front-runners, a survey released Thursday found.

Sixty percent of the 6,395 respondents to the online poll described the Jewish Vermont senator as “not too religious” or “not at all religious,” according to the Pew Research Center. A subgroup of 303 Jewish respondents viewed Sanders as even less religious, with 75% saying he is “not too religious” or “not at all religious.”

The respondents, adults 18 and older, were asked about how they saw the religiosity of Sanders, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg. Biden, who is Catholic, was seen as the most religious, with 55% of respondents saying the former vice president is “very religious” or “somewhat religious.”

If he is nominated, Sanders would be the first Jewish presidential candidate on a major party ticket. He said in 2016 that he is “not actively involved with organized religion,” but in recent appearances Sanders has spoken about how his Jewish roots shaped him. The senator recently released a campaign video in which he said he is “very proud to be Jewish.”

The Pew survey was conducted February 4-15 and has a margin of error of 1.6 percentage points. The Jewish subgroup has a margin of error of 7.9 percentage points.